Published by the Society for Information Science onbehalf of National Information System for Science &Technology (NISSAT),DSIR, Government of India,Technology Bhawan,New Delhi-110016.
NISSAT Newsletter, published quarterly, is the officialorgan of NISSAT, and is aimed at disseminating infor-mation concerning programmes, activities andachievements of NISSAT as also of the variouscentres functioning under it. Additionally, it attempts toproject major developments in.the field of informationscience at national and international levels.
Communications concerning the Newsletter may beaddressed to Dr A. Lahiri, Jt. Adviser (NISSAT), De-partment of Scientific & Industrial Research, Govern-ment of India, Technology Bhawan, New MehrauliRoad, New Delhi-110016. Material published in theNewsletter can be reproduced with due acknowledge-ment to the source.
A Lifetime Opportunity
What will you do if you won a reward of more thanfive million rupees?
No kidding, the problem is real and not one lifted ofa movie script. Believe it or not, a small group of LISprofessionals have earned this handsome rewardthrough sheer dedicated hard work of organizing theIFLA 1992.
As is usually the case, this unexpected bounty hasbrought up controversies and invited players befitting thedescription of major roles of a masala movie.
The first and foremost question is who should bethe custodian? Should it find its way to the ConsolidatedFund of India? Whether MHRD —Deptt of Culture thenodal ministry for the conference should take charge?Could ILA lay its claim to the bonanza as surplus(profits) earned out of an activity hosted by theassociation and credit it to its general account. Or,should ILA treat it as a separate accounting unit. Onecould also think of creating a new trust to manage thefund etc., etc. There could be many such options.However, the rules are not very clear for a final choice,to be made.
One could come close to a decision if it werepossible to say unequivocally as to who would haveborne the brunt in case there was a deficit.
The next potential question is what to do with thisbig amount. That it should be utilized for the advance-ment of library and information science in India throughresearch and education and for the welfare of LISprofessionals at large, few would disagree. The intereston the capital which may be 0.5 to 1 million, dependingupon the investment portfolio, could support a largedelegation from India to participate in the IFLA con-ference. Training of young information scientists in Indiaor abroad on a regular basis may be made possible. Ascheme of visiting professorships, research scholarships,on-the-job training could be instituted. This may helpproducing LIS text books in Indian languages. A largebuilding may be acquired to house seminar and classrooms and to provide shelter to various library associ-ations. Here also lots of possibilities exist. Whatever rtmay be, the activities should accrue benefits that aredirect and visible (unlike the well known endowmentfunds in existence now).
Such opportunities come but once in a lifetime. Thepride of position is that the money has beers earnedthrough slogging and not through donations andtherefore demands special treatment and attention.
— A. Lahiri
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
NISSAT
NEWSLETTER
Vol. 12 No. 2 April-June 1993
CONTENTS
A Lifetime Opportunity 1
CDS/ISIS: Fourth National Meet, Pune 3
Information Management ior Rural Development: Its Parameters — XII SIS Annual Convention 8
Status of CDS/ISIS Training and Use in Asia and the Pacific: Regional Report 12
ISIS-Pascal Utilities Developed at NCSI 19
News and Events 21
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
CDS/ISIS: Fourth NationalMeet, Pune
The fourth national meet of CDS/ISIS userswas organized by NISSAT and NICHEM at theNational Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune duringJanuary 6-8, 1993. The aims and objectives of themeet were:
• to assess the status of the use of CDS/ISISpackage in the country.
• to provide solutions to technical problemsraised by users.
• to facilitate exchange of experiences andapplications and to get recommendations forfurther improvement/development of thepackage.
The participants, numbering 54, were regularusers of the package with enough practice in itsuse. A number of papers from the participantswere circulated in the meeting.
The inaugural session commenced with awarm welcome by Dr S. Krishnan, Head, S.M.I.S.Unit, NCL. Welcoming the participants, he briefly
Introductory Remarks by Mrs S. Ravindran(NISSAT). Seated (r. to /) are Dr S. Sivaraman
(NCL) and Dr S. Krishnan (NICHEM)
Inaugural Session: ASection of Participants
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
indicated the background of the meeting, activitiesof NICHEM-and its achievements. It was followedby the introductory remarks by Mrs. SreedeviRavindran, Principal Scientific Officer, NISSAT.She briefly described the advantages of thepackage, recent developments and the policy ofNISSAT in the distribution of the package. Shealso stated that the application packages like"SANJAY" and 'TRISHNA" developed by NISSATand the statistical package IDAMS are nowavailable for distribution. An assessment of theutility of the package is very essential, and theusers group meetings are organized annually. Userviews/experiences are always considered indeveloping and adding new features to ISIS; WhilePC version is popular, UNIX version of thepackage will be ready soon.
Inaugurating the meeting, Dr. S. Sivaram,Head, Polymer Chemistry Dept., emphasized theneed for providing access to information andcontribution of CDS/ISIS in this regard. Hementioned that till date such a user friendlypackage has not been utilized by the scientificcommunity to manage and develop their owndatabases especially bibliographies. He emphasi-zed that library/information scientists should worktowards popularizing the CDS/ISIS softwareamongst the scientific community in their hostinstitutions. The scientists still keep their data onnote books or cards. If the scientists make use ofCDS/ISIS, after an year or so, if their individualefforts can be consolidated, we could end uphaving a powerful data base. He appealed toresearch workers to exploit the capability of thisunique package. In this context, he requestedNiCHEM to take action to implement this packagefor the use of all scientists in NCL and conducttraining courses for the scientists.
Mr. V.G. Deodhar extended an vote of thanksto NISSAT for sponsoring this meet in NCL, to Dr.Sivaram for finding time to be with the participants,to the participants and their sponsors for partici-pation; and to all others who were involved In themeet directly or indirectly.
Technical Sessions
4 There were six technical sessions. These werestructured to give ample time for open housediscussions on the problems and use of thepackage.
The first business session after the inaugu-ration was developed to reviewing the progress inthe promotion and application of CDS/ISISpackage. The session was chaired by Dr. N.K.Gopalakrishnan, Project Director, National Instituteof Agricultural Extension Management, Hyderabad.The speakers included Mrs. S. Ravindran and SriB.N. Sarkar of NISSAT and Sri. A. Kanjilal, ISRO,Sriharikota. The specific achievements mentionedwere:
(i) NISSAT has distributed 815 copies of CDS/ISIS since 1989. Of these 207 copies weredistributed in the year 1992. The maximumnumber of licensed copies of software hasbeen distributed in Delhi, followed byMaharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat andWest Bengal.
(ii) Imparting training in CDS/ISIS has been anintegral part of NISSAT activities. About 2500persons have already been trained so far.Regular training facilities have been created ininstitutions like INSDOC, DRTC and PuneUniversity. In addition various professionalbodies are also organizing short-term courseson behalf of NISSAT. The subject content ofthese courses generally included application ofCDS/ISIS, Dbase, MS-DOS, ISIS, PASCAL, etc.However, subjects like CD-ROM technology,On-line accessing etc will be included in thecourse content from 1993 onwards.
While introducing the "SANJAY" package, Mrs.Ravindran gave a background on why NISSATwent for its development. She stated that thedevelopment of "SANJAY" was a follow-up actionof the recommendations of 1st users group meet,towards the development of an integrated softwarefor library automation.
She gave a brief presentation of the capabi-lities of the package. SANJAY is an augmentedversion CDS/ISIS Package. The system providespassword protection and takes direct advantage ofCDS/ISIS capabilities and PASCAL interfaces. Ithas modules on Acquisition System, Catalogue,Circulation Control and Serial control. She alsoinformed the participants that this package will beavailable to various institutions at a nominal cost.Mr. B.N. Sarkar gave a demonstration of thePackage.
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
Talking about NISSAT training programmes,she stated thai NISSAT had created Jacilities atINSDOC, DESIDOC and Pune University fororganizing series of training courses regularly oncomputer based bibliographic activities. Alsovarious professional bodies are organizing courseson behalf of NISSAT. So far INSDOC & DRTCwere dealing with CDS/ISIS, dBASE, etc. Nextyear onwards, topics on new Information tech-nology like CD-ROM, On-line accessing etc., willbe taken up. She said that so far more than 2500people were trained in various topics. Participantswho can participate as resource persons inNISSAT courses were requested to register theirnames with NISSAT.
She informed the participants that UNESCOhad recently finalised a standard trainingprogramme on CDS/ISIS in the Distributor'smeeting held in Philippines in October 92. Accord-ing to it a modular approach with adequateflexibility to package the modules to suit the needsof the trainees would be adopted- The moduleswere introduced to the participants for their viewsand comments.
Mr. A. Kanjilal, ISRO Sriharikota presented theactivities undertaken in SHAR Centre. They havedeveloped modules in PASCAL*for acquisitionand cataloguing. This application also takes careof accounting part of the library. He also discusseda pascal programme for permuted keyboardindex.
Sessions III to VI were devoted towards thepresentation of user applications. Each sessionwas followed by an open house discussion. Dr. S.Krishnan/NCL, Mr. ARD Prasad/ISI, chaired thedifferent sessions.
The participants presented status of the use ofthe package in their institutions. Besides the usualbibliographic applications, the papers presented invarious session included the following interestingapplications:
Mrs. S. Ravindran/WSSAT, give a briefpresentation on the status of ISIS use in thecountry. This was a summary of data received inresponse to a questionnaire circulated by NISSAT.Besides the usual bibliographic applications, thepackage is used by various institutions for creationof databases on Directories, Full text, Reports/Memo, Abstracting and numerical applications.
About 10 institutions out of 67 institutions areusing ISIS PASCAL. The type ot applicationsinclude Indexing/Abstracting, Acquisitions, SerialsControl, Circulation Control, SDI, etc.
Mr. A.R.D. Prasad, ISI, introduced the ISISPASCAL software "Pygmalion" for converting anyASCII file to CDS/ISIS. He informed that theprogram will allow the user to download databasestrom CD-ROM and dialogue to CDS/ISIS. Thissoftware is available in DRTC, Bangalore at anominal cost.
Mr. G.K. Manjunath, Institute of RuralManagement, Anand presented the IntegratedBook Acquisition System developed for hisinstitute. The program contains four databasescontaining details on bibliographic, program alsoprint addresses on envelops/dispatch slips. Theprogram will do address management, orderbooks, print order copies of books, process billsand print payment approval letters, payment tosupplies, payment adjustments letters to bank forforeign exchange, search on author, etc.
Mr. Narayan Kutty of VSSC explained indetails how VSSC library is automated using CDS/ISIS. He informed that Book database of VSSClibrary was completed in March 1992 and thedatabase is updated regularly with new records inrespect of new documents added to the library.The library has developed 4 modules for managingworks in Indexing and Acquisitions. He stated thatthe powerful capabilities of Print FormattingLanguage with DOS shell 5.0 helped him todevelop these modules.
Dr. Manilal of CFTRI, Mysore discussed aboutthe Search interface developed by his institute forsearching database with minimum number ofsteps.
Mr. M.B. Patil of NICHEM presented a paperon using CDS/ISIS for building up the IndianChemical Patents Abstract (ICPA) data base andpublishing an abstracting journal. Since chemicalstructure diagrams are the natural language of thechemists, and since CDS/ISIS does not supportgraphics he has to create a diagrams using someother software and integrate them only in the print 5version of ICPA. Mr. V.G. Deodhar presented anapplication of CDS/ISIS for creating a unioncatalogue of current periodicals for the Punelibraries.
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
Mr. R.B. Gaddagimath of National Academy ofAgricultural Research Management, Hyderabadpresented a paper on "Customization of CDS/ISISto create a user friendly database".
In Session VII, Mrs. Ravindran dealt with newfeatures of ISIS ver 3.0 apart from answeringtechnical queries from Ihe participants on thePackage.
Technical Problems
The following questions and answers presentthe essence of technical aspects of the pro-ceedings:
Q: Quarterly publications be started on CDS/ISISapplications.
A: It will not be advisable to start a newsletter foreach activity. In NISSAT newsletter a fewpages can be reserved for this activity;provided we get materials.
Q: Provide Manuals on floppiesA: At present, UNESCO do not aiiow that.
Q: Right Justification of CDS/ISIS output andchecking of duplicate entry.
A: Not available. Already requested UNESCO toincorporate this feature.
Q: Global editing facilityA- Yes, there is a Pascal Program available.
Interested persons can get it from NISSAT.
Q: ISIS cannot support Alphabets other thanEnglish like Mathematical symbols; French/Spanish titles are not possible
A: No. According to UNESCO source, this wouldrequire enormous programming. Possibly ISISwill handle this in Windows version.
Q: If a lield is repeatable, what is the commandto print only first two authors; only the thirdoccurrence
A: It is not possible to print an occurrence of afield. Design the database accordingly.
Q: Some special features of DTP may be incorpo-6 rated.
A: It is nice to have. UNESCO has set up somepriorities. First let us have all ihe essentialssuch as LAN version, UNIX version etc. Now
after the release of UNIX version, UNESCOwill concentrate on Window version. Till thentry to use other packages like Wordstar, DTP,etc.
Q: Numerical Calculation to be introduced for fundcontrol
A: Possible through an ISIS PASCAL program
Q: Can we combine data from different databasesfor output?
A: ISIS can combine data within the samedatabase. It is also possible, if the differentdatabases are properly designed.
Recommendations
The lollowing recommendations were presen-ted by the participants.
UNESCO
(1) Unix version of ISIS may be made availableat an early date.
(2) Installable "Device Drivers" should beprovided in CDS/ISIS so that the output canbe printed in printer.
(3) Facility fo/ checking duplicate records andFacility to store the search strategies so thatsome of the frequently used queries need notbe re-entered.
NISSAT
(4) The documentation of SANJAY has to beimproved.
(5) PASCAL programs developed by varioususers should be published in NNL.
(6) Unix version of TRISHNA may be developed.
(7) Region-wise User Groups may be formed tosolve the problems of users in each region.There can also be regional meet twice orthrice in a year; and a national meet could beheld once a year.
(8) CDS/ISIS tutorial and a detailed manual onISIS PASCAL needs to be prepared.
(9) Directory of users should also contain the
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
databases developed by them and the areasof application.
(10) Standard Format for database creation maybe provided with the sample database.
( 1 1 ) SANJAY may be given to professional/commercial institutions for vigorous market-ing, if policy allows.
(12) Training Courses on PASCAL & ISIS PASCALto be organized.
Concluding Session
The valedictory address was given by Prof.A.S. Kolaskar, Head, Zoology Dept. and Head,Bioinformatics Centre, Pune University. He empha-sized the need for precise information to be madeavailable to the scientists quickly. He felt thatIndian scientists can and should start creatinggood quality databases. He described his ownexperiences in developing the virus data basewhich is now available world wide on the network.He felt that NISSAT should start funding projectsfor creation of databases in India.
Mrs. Ravindran presented summary of theparticipants evaluation on the meeting. On thewhole, Ihe participants noted that the objectives ofthe meet have been mostly achieved and the meetwas valuable tor their work. The most outstandingdevelopments useful to them are LAN facility ofMicro-ISlS and conversion programs. The facilitiesprovided by NICHEM were very good.
In his concluding remarks, Dr. Krishnanexpressed the desire for greater cooperationamong users of CDS/ISIS, locally as well asnationally. He thanked NISSAT for hosting theusers meet at NCL.
Mrs. Ravindran extended vote of thanks toNICHEU on behalf of NISSAT for their excellentarrangement, Prof. Kolaskar for his remarks, ailthe participants for their active role in makingthe meet a success, and their institutions fornominating the participants, all the chairmen ofvarious sessions, engineers for providing the LANfacility and the rapporteurs noting down thedeliberations and all others who have directly andindirectly involved.
SPIRIT OF LEARNING
"Exact knowledge of facls is as essential as common sense; a thorough grasp of the latest forms oftechnique is as necessary as general flair. A true spirit of learning and research should replace theattitude of self-sufficiency."
— SFt Ranganathanin Library Development Plan
7
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2. 1993
8
Information ManagementFor Rural Development:Its Parameters — XII SIS
Annual Convention
Information Management for Rural Develop-ment was the theme oi the Twelfth AnnualConvention & Conference of the Society (orInformation Science held during 28-30 January,1993. It was hosted by the Indian Institute ofChemical Technology, Hyderabad. The Conferencediscussed, among other things, a Model Plan forexecution of rural programmes, rural communi-cation system, linkage systems between urban andrural population for development, identification ofinformation sources for rural development andbuilding up rural databases.
About 35 information and library scienceprofessionals, scientists, and technologists,administrators and experts in rural developmentprogrammes in the country discussed the impactof rural development communication andinformation management systems and emphasisedthe need for better co-ordination particularlywith the NCOS. The discussions, spread overfive technical sessions, culminated in a set ofrecommendation aimed at integrated ruraldevelopment programmes through a communityinlormation resources centre at village cluster levelto facilitate effective development of rural people.Eleven papers were presented at these technicalsessions.
Inauguration
The Chief Guest Dr. K.V. Raman, FormerDirector of National Academy of AgriculturalResearch Management, Hyderabad while deliver-ing his inaugural address emphasised the need forbuilding up an information bank for the benefit ofrural population. He mentioned that rural develop-ment was a multi-faceted activity. It covered suchwide areas as agriculture, education, health,sanitation, infrastructure development, social andorganizational structure, etc. Most of these arehuman welfare and human resources developmentprogrammes, and are generally handled by severalspecialized sectors. Planning such a multi-faceted
Inaugural Address: Dr. K.V. Raman, DirectorNAARM, Chief Guest
activity requires organized data availability. In spiteof conscious endeavors on the part of theconcerned organizations, co-ordination efforts ingeneration and sharing of information and datahave not been always successful. Dr. Ramanmade some valuable suggestions like authenticityand reliability of primary data sources, role ofNGOs in the collection and dissemination ofinformation, evaluation of the existing networkingsystems, their adequacy and steps needed forimprovement, training professionally qualifiedmanpower, helping professional scientific societieslike SIS in the Governmental efforts to collect,regulate and facilitate flow of information. Finally,he suggested that a Futuristic Think Tank beestablished within the society that will be continu-ously studying and monitoring the advances inmodern information technology, and producelearned papers on the subject, and provokeenlightened thinking.
Dr. A.V. Rama Rao, Director IICT presidedover the inaugural session.
Earlier, SIS Secretary P.C. Bose welcomedthe distinguished gathering and gave a briefresume ot information management activities in thefield of rural development especially by theNational Institute of Rural Development (NIRD),
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2. 1993
Hyderabad and other organizations in the country.SIS President S. Nagarajan in his presidentialaddress reviewed the activities of the Society andthe measures taken by Government on variousprogrammes tor helping the rural poor throughIntegrated Rural Development Programmes andsetting up of Panchayati Raj.
Prof. R.G. Gupta, Dean, School of Computerand Systems Sciences, JNU, New Delhi receivesHony Fellowship. At right Is Shri P.C. Bose,
Secretary, SIS.
Hony Fellowships
The Chief guest gave away the Awards ofHony Fellowship of SIS and Young InformationScientists for 1992 to the following:
1. Prof. R.G. Gupta, Dean, School of Computer &Systems Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru Univer-sity, New Delhi for his outstanding contributionto computer science.
2. Dr. Sukumar Mallick, Deputy Adviser, ExtraMural Research Division of CSIR, New Delhifor his outstanding contribution in developingcurrent research information system of CSIR.
3. Shri N.M. Malwad, Librarian, Indian Institute ofScience, Bangalore for his outstanding contri-bution to Library and Information Science.
The Young Information Scientists' Awardinstituted in 1989 in memory of late Shri A.S.Raizada, Founder Secretary of the Society, wasgiven to:
Shri N.C. Jain, Senior Research Officer in theDivision of Publications & Information of the IndianCouncil of Medical Research, New Delhi inrecognition to his contributions towards S & Tinformation dissemination.
Above, other award winners (from left) Dr Sukumar Mallick Dy. Adviser, EMR Division CSIR, NewDelhi; Shri N.M. Malwad, Librarian; Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (Hony Fellowships); Shri
N.C. Jain, Senior Research Officer, ICMR, New Delhi receives the Young Information Scientist'sAward instituted In the memory of late Shri A.N. Raizada, Founder-Secretary, SIS.
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO 2, 1993
Technical Sessions
The Technical Sessions which followed dealtwith topics detailed as under:
Session I: Identification of Information Ser-vices — Chairman: Prof. . A.K.Dasgupta, Chief of Research,EENADU, Hyderabad.
Session II: Building up Rural Databases andCase Studies. Chairman: Shri L.J.Haravu, Manager, Library & Informa-tion Services, ICRISAT, Patencherru.
Session III: Rural Communication System:Working out strategies, Chairman:Dr. B.S.S. Rao, Director (Information),National Institute of Rural Develop-ment, Hyderabad.
Session IV: Linkage Systems between Urbanand Rural Population. Chairman —Shri S.K. Arora, I AS Director,National Institute of AgriculturalExtension Management, Hyderabad.
Session V: Model Plan for Information for RuralDevelopment. Chairman—Prof. N.B.Inamdar, Director, Institute of LibraryScience, Hyderabad.
Recommendations
Discussions at the technical sessions culmi-nated in a set of recommendations prepared byShri A.K. Uathur, (NISTADS), the Rapporteur ofthe Conference which were discussed andpresented by Dr. S. Mallick at the Plenary Session.Some of the main recommendations were:
1. To meet the challenge posed by (he complextask of Rural Development, it is criticallyimportant to build systems for informationgeneration, collation, storage, retrieval, analysisand dissemination at local, regional andnational levels. For this various tools andtechniques of fered by information scienceincluding modern information technology
10 as well as other disciplines need to beconsolidated, and pressed into services.
2. Government ef forts by themselves are
Shri T.C.A.S. Ramanujam, Director GeneralNIRD addressed the Plenary Session
inadequate to meet the above challenge andshould be supplemented by the efforts ofvarious national and slate level autonomousinstitutions and non-governmental organiza-tions.
There is an urgent need to map out enormousinformation already available at micro andmacro levels in the form of manuscripts,journal articles, reports, bibliographies,statistics, directories, databases, etc., withgovernment bodies, research institutions,NGO's, etc. Particular notice should be takenof (a) Sectoral studies bibliographies, anddatabases, for example on tribals, ethnicmedicines etc., (b) Non-conventional literatureproduced by institutions NGO's and otheractivist groups; (c) Information on technologies,products and processes developed byindividual laboratories, etc.
For optimum resource sharing and to cater tothe needs of various users, there is animperative need for state and national levelinstitutions to come forward lor buildinginformation systems in the form of largedatabases, regional networks thereof andinformation products and services coveringvarious aspects of rural development. An apex
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
body may be charged with the task of guidingand co-ordinating the operation of theseregional networks and also for formulatingmodalities for interaction of these networkswith the NIC networks like DISNIC, etc.
5 It is of necessary to fashion out and establishat each village or village cluster level aCommunity Information Resource Centre(CIRC) to facilitate effective development of therural people. There is need to clearly definethe role, organisational set up, manpower skillrequirements, participative management style,mode of linkage with the govt. officials andinformation networks for these CIRC's.
6. Various state and national level institutes mustbe geared up for training and retraining ofmanpower to be associated with the proposedCIRC's, networks, etc.
7. Information management for rural developmentmust be recognised as an important area forrural development funding research pro-grammes, action research, etc. by variousstate and central departments related with ruraldevelopment. The same area should also beconsidered important tor carrying out researchprogrammes in the library and informationscience, social science, etc. faculties at theuniversities, including agricultural universitiesand other premier instituies like N1RD, IIM's,IISc. IRMA, etc.
8. To clearly delineate the various issues involvedin the all important task of informationmanagement for rural development, anappropriate agency may be approached tocommission writing ot status papers on thefollowing important issues;
a) A model village level information resourcecentre.
b) Mapping the country's available conven-tional and non-conventional informationresources relevant to rural development.
c) Guidelines for building large regional data-bases, networking them and for theirinteraction with DISNIC, etc.
d) Modalities for reconciliation of the cen-tralised or 'lop-down" approaches inherentin the govt. instituted informatics networksand rural development programmes andthe "bottom-up" approaches sought to befollowed or advocated for the NGO's,CIRC's, researchers, etc.
Plenary Session
The Plenary Session was chaired by ShriT.C.A. Srinivasaramanujam, Director-General,National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad.Secretary, SIS, P.C. Bose in his introductoryremarks spoke about the theme of the conferenceand the different technical sessions which dis-cussed the information management aspects ofrural devetopments and its parameters resulting ina set of recommendations which will be forwardedto the Ministry of Rural Development and theNational Institute of Rural Development wherethere is already a Centre of Rural Documentation(CORD) for implementation.
Shri T.C.A. Srinivasaramanujam in hisvaledictory address outlined the various problemsfaced by the 74 per cent ot rural population outof India's 878 million people. This is the mostvulnerable section of the society with 136 millionS.Cs and 67 million STs, 23 million are unem-ployed and 301 million children are suffering frommalnutrition and diseases. Problems like potabledrinking water, housing, sanitation, healthcare,road, education, low productivity of crops andcommodities needed to be tackled properly: Itrequires an information system linkage wilh ruraldevelopment. This information would depend onavailability, accuracy, absorbity and adoption. Theentire planning process depends on the accuracyof the data. Communication system is alsoimportant for tne success of rural developmentprogrammes.
In his vote of thanks, S. Nagarajan President,SIS, thanked Shri T.C.A. Srinivasaramanujam forhis scholarly address. He expressed deep gratitudeof the Society to Dr. A.V. Rama Rao, Director,IICT, Shri M.M. Hasan. Shri K. Hari Hara Prasadand their colleagues and other members of thelocal organizing committee for the excellent 11arrangements made for the conference.
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO 2 13=O
Status of CDS/ISISTraining and Use in Asiaand the Pacific: Regional
Report
Based on Country Reports submitted byParticipants to the Asian Regional Training ofTrainers and Meeting of Distributors of UNESCO'sCDS/ISIS Software Package
Patricia 8. Carino Institute of Library ScienceUniversity of the Pilippines Diliman
1.0 Introduction
UNESCO released the mini-micro version ofCDS/ISIS in 1985. Since that time and due togreat demand worldwide, distribution of thesoftware and training on its use have beendecentralized. UNESCO no longer deals with eachrequesting party. A network of regional, nationaland special distributors now exists to service thespecific needs of users.
This decentralization gave rise to two areas ofconcern in the Asia/Pacific region. First, there is nosystem of exchanging information on users andthe types of applications they have developed.While regular CDS/ISIS columns are now includedin two UNESCO publications (UNISIST Newsletterand ASTINFO Newsletter), these have limiteddistribution. Second, while provision ol training isvoluntary and dictated by the trainees' needs,there is no indication of regularity nor consistencyin coverage amongst the various training coursesnow offered by various institutions in the region.What is called "beginner's course" in one countrymay not mean the same in another country; theremight even be differences within a country!
Cognizant of these concerns, the Institute ofLibrary Science, University of the Philippines(UPILS), the Philippine CDS/SIS national distri-butor, proposed to the Regional Adviser of the
-|2 UNESCO General Information Programme inBangkok, a meeting of both trainers and nationaldistributors. The meeting was expected to resultin an inventory of CDS/ISIS users and theirapplications as well as a proposed standard
training program that could be adopted regionwide.The meeting was held in the Philippines on5-9 October 1992. It was sponsored by UNESCOand organized by UPILS in cooperation withISISPHIL—The Philippine CDS/ISIS Users' Group.
To facilitate discussions during the meeting, asurvey of national survey and training courses wasconducted before the meeting. The survey resultedin country reports from 14 ASTINFO membercountries, namely, Australia, China, India, Indone-sia, Iran, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, PapuaNew Guinea, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand,and Vietnam. Based on these, a summary of thestate of CDS/ISIS use and training in the Asia/Pacific region is herein presented.
2.0 Methodology
2.1 The National Surveys
The UPILS as lead agency prepared the sur-vey forms and guidelines for the preparation of thecountry reports. Multiple copies of these formswere sent through the national distributors to theduly-designated national delegate to the regionalmeeting, who was tasked with conducting thenational surveys.
Two types of forms were used:
^ . Survey of CDS/ISIS Users, Applications,Programs and Utilities.
This form was used to generate detailed infor-mation on CDS/ISIS users within the country, thekinds of applications or databases they havedeveloped, as well as accompanying ISIS PASCALprograms and utilities used with these databases.
2. Survey of CDS/ISIS Training Courses
This form was used to generate information onthe types of training courses offered in the country,
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
their content, methodology, course materials used,and the institutions offering such courses.
While the national surveys were in progress,UPILS modified its existing data base of usersin preparation for the expected inputs from thevarious countries. The revised database providesfor the encoding of data in the survey forms whichthe participants were requested to submit with theirreports. Due to lack of time, it was not possible tocollate the individual forms. In addition, only a lewsuch filled-in forms were returned.
2.2 The Regional Summary
Data provided in the country reports werecollated and organized under common areas.Difficulty was encountered in the process for tworeasons: varied levels of detail (e.g. summaries vs.simple enumeration) and varied presentation offigures (numbers vs. percentages). Again due totime constraints, most of the country reports couldcover only a sample of the users. This summary,therefore, is a representative but not a comprehen-sive picture of CDS/ISIS training and use in theregion.
3.0 Status of CDS/ISIS use
3.1 CDS/ISIS Users
Official registers show that there are morethan 2,457 licensed users. This figure is brokendown as follows:
Table 1. Licensed CDS/ISIS Users
Country Licenses
AustraliaChinaIndiaIndonesiaIran28KoreaMalaysiaNepalPakistanPapua New GuineaPhilippinesSri LankaThailandVietnam'
Total
701000 +75575 +
1568720101213160209
2457 +
Several reports cited the possibility of otherinstitutions within the country who have acquired acopy of CDS/ISIS from other sources but are notregistered with the distribution center. In Sri Lanka,for example, it was noted that there are in fact 85known users although only 60 are registered withNARESA, the national distributor. No exact figurescould be given for China and Indonesia. It wasalso noted that the national figures represent thenumber of licenses granted but not the totalnumber of users within a licensed institution.
Table 2. User Categories (by type oforganization)
Category No.
Government agenciesS/T unitsAcademic institutionsPrivate agencies/AssociationsState corporations/StatutorybodiesInternational/Regional bodiesNon-governmental organizationsOthers
269258237180
611688
25.9424.8822.8517.36
5-891.540.770.77
Total 1037 100%
*no details given
Table 2 shows the user categories by type oforganizations. The total figure of 1,037 representsonly 42.2% of the total number of users reported.This is because several reports did not specify thetypes of institutions using CDS/ISIS in their coun-tries.
3.2 Types of Data Bases and Applications
As expected, a great majority of databases arebibliographic in nature (76.62%). These databasesare used for different library services and house-keeping operations:
Library services: abstracting, indexing, currentawareness services and SDI, cataloging.
There are a number of non-bibliographic data-bases, such as directories, numerical, andadministrative records, as well as patent informa-tion. These are used for research management,
13
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2. 1993
personnel management, budgeting, production ofmailing lists and directories.
Table 3. Types of Data Bases
fype of Data Base No.
BibliographicDirectory of institutionsDirectory of personsAdministrative recordsDirectory of activitiesFull textNumericalOthers
213231975317
76.628.276.832.511.81 . 10.362.51
Total 278 100%
3.3 Applications Development
A majority of these applications use the stan-dard ISiS program. Only about 21 cases reporteduse of databases with ISIS PASCAL programs. InIndia, 15% of applications requires ISIS PASCALprograms. Examples of these programs areenhancements to the standard ISIS menus, printroutines, enhanced search operations, and auto-matic indexing. Most utilities available are forconverting files created using other softwares ordownloaded from other databases into the ISO2709 format.
A significant development is the design otnational standard formats for bibliographic records.This is true of China, Thailand and Vietnam. Thiseliminates or minimizes individual efforts in de-veloping applications. It also contributes to greatercapability to share and exchange databases andtraining on how to use them among libraries.Some institutions also develop packages whichthey make available to other users, either for freeor for a minimal fee (e.g. India).
Another development is the customization ofISIS into national languages and scripts. Severalversions are now available in the region, to wit,Devnagiri (Sanskrit), Farsi, Korean; Vietnamese,Chinese, and Thai. On the other hand, the prob-
14 lem of lack of absence of a Reference Manual andother reference materials in the same languagefaces many users.
3.4 Users of CDS/ISIS Applications
CDS/ISIS databases and applications are gen-erally accessible to the library staff and users.Searches, however, still have to be delegatedbecause of the users' lack of knowledge or trainingon ISIS operations. Other user categories arecomputer personnel, research and technical staff,administrative staff, and visitors to the institutionsusing CDS/ISIS.
3.5 Subject and Geographic Coverage
It was difficult to determine the specific cover-age of databases. The reports indicated suchtopics as agriculture, socio-economics, engineering,health, community development and environment.Since a large number of users are libraries, it isexpected that both the subject and geographiccoverage of databases are global in nature,although there were some references to databasethat concentrate on national and local data.
3.6 Shareware Information
There was very little mention of "shareware",i.e., availability of existing applications, programsand utilities to other users. In the case of Australia,the national distribution center is willing to share itsprograms and utilities for free or for a nominal fee.The Indian national distributor provides three pack-ages under varying terms: Nalanda (fee-based),Sanjay and Trishna (free package and technicalsupport; training at nominal cost). Thailand has nopolicies regarding shareware; only one is availablefree-of-charge from the national distributor, i.e.,NCARD (used to generate catalogue cards on con-tinuous forms).
3.7 CDS/ISIS Users Groups
All national distributors face the problem of theheavy demand on their human and other resourcesto provide technical support and training of newand old users, over and above the administrativeaspect of processing new requests. Except in thecase of China, Vietnam, and India (where a duly-mandated institution has been designated asnational distributor and provided funds for thispurpose) most national distribution centers aresmall operations, with only a few staff (in severalcases, only one or two) and without funding
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
support. To partially solve this problem, nationaldistributors have initiated the formation of nationalCDS/ISIS users groups. There are now nine suchgroups organized in the region. These groupsassist the national distribution centers by conduct-ing training courses and providing technical supportto other users. In addition, they hold annualmeeting of users, conduct study tours, publish userdirectories, conduct special lectures and dis-cussions, and publish newsletters to exchangeinformation on activities and share experiences,problems and solutions. The CDS/ISIS usersgroups can be found in the following countries:
Table 4. CDS/ISIS User Groups
Country Dateestablished
Name
AustraliaChina
ca. April 19911991
IndiaMalaysia
Nepal
Papua NewGuineaPhilippines October 1988
10 March 1990
January 1992
October 1991
Sri Lanka*Thailand
November 1990
China User'sAsso. formicro-CDS/lSIS(informal)
KumpulanPengguna CDS/ISIS MalaysiaCISN-CDS/ISISSociety — NepalPNG CDS/ISISUsers' Group -ISISPHIL —ThePhil. CDS/ISISUsers' GroupCDS/OS Users'Club in Thailand
'no details available
3.8 User and Distribution Problems
Users encounter several problems with the useof CDS/ISIS. Many of these have been addressedby the release of Version 3.0, which incorporatescorrections to problems found in Version 2.3 aswell as new features, the most important of whichis the ability to share CDS/ISIS databases in anetwork environment. {Refer to the Final Report,Asian Regional Training of Trainers and Meeting of
Distributors for details on specific technical prob-lems). A basic reason for these problems is lack orabsence of training on the part of the users. Feware willing to put in time to read the ReferenceManual and learn the software by themselves.Another is the absence of reference materials intheir own language and script.
These situations have contributed to acommonly reported problem faced by nationaldistributors: non-use of CDS/ISIS even afterlicensing. Other factors, in addition to lack oftrained manpower and local language materials,are:
• a felling or impression that the software isdifficult to use;
• lack of technical support;
• lack of understanding of what the packagecan do on the part of library planners andcomputer vendors; and
• lack of hardware.
Only one country (Papua New Guinea) repor-ted difficulty of getting the software from the ofticialdistributor as a problem.
Interestingly, one country (Indonesia) reported"overexpectation" as a problem. Perhaps this istrue of other countries as well. For example, aproblem commonly cited is the inability of CDS/ISIS to handle statistical operations, symbols andgraphics, whereas the CDS/ISIS ReferenceManual categorically states that the software isdesigned lor textual data, users also lend to lookfor capabilities or features they have earlier seenin other softwares, such as relational databasesmodeling, pop-up menus, etc.
Lastly, as already cited earlier, nationaldistributors encounter difficulty in monitoringthe presence ot copies unlicensed users haveacquired from other sources. The most commonsource is training courses, wherein trainees cancopy the software and acquire the accompanyingmanuals for a fee. Even when institutions applyformally for a license for the copy already they 15have, national distributors still have to evaluate theinstitutions' request vis-a-vis the terms and condi-tions UNESCO has set for the transfer of CDS/ISIS.
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
4.0 Status of CDS/ISIS Training
4.1 Types of Training Courses
There are three main types of courses beingoffered by various institutions within the region:beginner, advanced and special.
4.1.1 Beginner's Course
There are two types of beginner-level courses:those designed for operators of pre-developeddatabases, and those organized for databasedesigners.
For the data operators, areas covered includedata entry and maintenance, inquiry and search-ing, and printed report generation. Depending onthe trainee's background, an introductory moduleon computers and DOS may be included. Courseduration varies from institution to institution; thecourse may last from two to five days. At the endof the course, trainees are expected to be profi-cient with the ISIS user services, enabling them touse applications developed for them by others.
For the database designers, the course incor-porates all ISIS features and facilities. Traineesmay have tittle, if any, experience with CDS/ISIS.A typical course woulo have the following outline(taken from the China country report):
1. System overview (including installation)2. ISIS database tables3. Editors
4. Simple formatting language for print/dis-play
5. Defining databases: .FDT,.FMT,.PFT,.FST
6. Data entry
7. Search language (including .ANY andSTW)
8. Printing9. Organizing databases (ISISXCH)
Differences with other outlines tie in the
sequencing of topics, amount of time devoted toworkshops and exercises, and total courseduration. Other training institutions (such as theUPILS and NARESA in Sri Lanka) includepreliminary sessions on computers, DOS, systemsanalysis and design and sessions on searching anISIS database, and inverted file maintenance. Acase study is usually assigned to the participants.This type of course usually lasts five days.
4.1.2 Advanced Course
As in beginner-lave! courses, advanced-levelcourses may be classified into two: those that areessentially the same as the beginner's course fordatabase designers and those that concentrate onISIS PASCAL. Only Vietnam reported offeringcourses of the latter type, although NISSAT doescover ISIS PASCAL in some of its training pro-grams but in conjunction with other programminglanguages.
There are differences noted between the "be-ginner and "advanced" courses for beginners. Inthe first case, the time limitation allows for onesimple case study and covers only the basic ISISfeatures to be able to design a simple applications.In the second case, because of the longer courseduration, there is the option to assign a more diffi-cult case study as well as discuss the more ad-vanced features of CDS/ISIS, specifically its printformatting and search languages, and creating pre-defined worksheets. A typical course coverage,again using the Chinese example, is
How to:
1. Use a complex print formatting language2. Add a new language3. Add/modify system menus
4. Use ISISPAS
Reproduced from ASTINFO NewsletterVol. 8, No. 1, 1993
(to be continued)
16
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO- 2, 1993
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TIFAC would soon start offering accesses to internationally acclaimed databases viz. METADEX.CHEMABS, COMPENDEXPLUS, lNSPEC2etc. Also databases on technology sources, business scenario, export opportunities viz, FT Profile,PROMT etc. would be available for on-line accesses by the users or alternately searches to be carried out at TIFACon users' request.
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at E-6. Qutab Hotel, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi 110016.
ISIS-Pascal UtilitiesDeveloped at NCSE
At the National Centre for Science Informa-tion (NCSI) three general utility programs havebeen developed In ISIS-Pascal by the presentbatch students of the one-year 'TrainingCourse in Information Technology Applica-tions,' as part of their course work. Two ofthe CDS/ISIS interface programs have beendeveloped as individual minor projects andanother one as a group project.
A brief description of these programs isgiven below. CDS/ISIS users who find theseprograms useful, can write to NCSI for listingsof these programs.
LODCOM. PAS:
This program reads the records downloadedIrom CD-ROM databases and loads them into a
CDS/ISIS database. NCSI subscribed to two CD-ROM databases COMPENDEX and MEDLINEsupplied by DIALOG On Disc. The search &retrieval software supplied with the databases,naturally has options tor downloading the searchresults into a text file as well as tor printing them.
LODCOM program developed as a groupproject by the trainees can read recordsdownloaded from CD-ROM in "Full RecordTagged" formal and loads them into CDS/ISISdatabase. To avoid complicating the code,separate programs are written for loading the datafrom each of the above mentioned CD-ROMs. TheCDS/ISIS databases are defined according to CCFstandards and the program takes care of loadingrepeating fields and embedding the subfielddelimiters into the field where required. The FDT ofone of the databases is shown below.
Field Definition Table (FDT) Data Base: COMPEN
Tag Name Len Typ Rep Deilm. / Patrn.
200300310440
49031
102
101600
610
620
625
TITLEAUTHOR
CORPORATE SOURCEPUBLICATION YEAR
SOURCELANGUAGE
CODEN
ISSNABSTRACTE I CLASSFN. CODE
DESCRIPTORSIDENTIFIERS
250150250
4
20010
10
12
1650
100300
150
XXXXX
XX
X
XX
XX
R ABCDEFR BD
ABCD
19
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
These programs can be easily modifiedfor loading records downloaded from CD-ROMssupplied by Silver Platter, another popularpublisher of CD-ROM databases.
GLBMOD.PAS:
This program, developed as a minor project al-lows global modification of any field in CDS/ISISdatabase records. This program can be used onCDS/ISIS databases just as the 'REPLACE ALL'command is used in dBASE for global modificationot a tield in all the records of a database. GLBMODprogram asks the database user for:
the tag of the field to be replacedthe string it should look for andthe string that should be used for replacement.
It then gets each record of the CDS/ISIS .data-base, checks each occurrence of the field lor thepresence of the given string and replaces it withthe new siring if it is found. The record is re-writtenafter ail the replacements are completed. Thisprocess is repeated for all the records of the data-base.
SELFMT.PAS:
This utility — also developed as a minor proj-ect— helps a CDS/ISIS database user to select apre-defined display format. The Information Re-trieval Services menu of CDS/ISIS provides anoption for selecting a display format from the avail-able formats for a database. But in order to usethis option, the user is expected to know not onlythe names of the pre-defined formats but also howthe display looks like. The above program is writ-ten with a view to overcoming this problem.
This program gets the names of the availableformats for a particular database from the file inwhich the FDT of the database is stored. It thenformats the first record of the database accordingto each format and displays it alongwith the formatname. The database user can select the requiredformat by a single key-press.
NCSI is willing to share the source listingsof the above programs with the CDS/ISIS usercommunity in order to avoid duplication of effortsand 're-inventing the wheel.' The programs can besent either by e-mail or by post in printed form.Interested users can write to National Centre forScience Information, Indian Institute of Science,Bangalore 560 012.
20
LIS: Put On Your Thinking CapsToday, in-depth knowledge of information sources, advances in information technology, rapidlychanging communication media and newer designs of information systems are necessary. Moreover,each situation demands a highly perceptive and skilled approach to retrieving, repackaging andproducing value added information tailored to the specific needs of the problem on hand and thesocial environment in which it emerges.
Recently the draft paper on Science and Technology was put out for public debate.Enterprenuership in technology, increased productivity in industry, re-orienting R & D effort, linking ofnational laboratories, industries and universities creating awareness of indigenously generatedinformation — will no doubt be discussed in detail. Instant access to ideas globally and activeinteraction among researchers, scientists and technologists will bring the many facets of the task intosharper focus.
But what does all this imply for information professionals? It should spontaneously trigger off thedesire to re-think, redesign all possible means of informational support and response at every stage.They need to put on their thinking caps and explore the most fruitful ways of integrating appropriateinformation into the entire process.
— Dr. Suseela Kumar in MALA, April 1993.
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
News and EventsTraining Course on Science Writing
A short-term training course on Science Writing wasorganized by the Publications & Information Directorate (PID),New Delhi, from 15 to 22 March 1993; seventeen scientists/editors from 10 institutes/laboratories of the DefenceResearch & Development Organisation (DRDO) attended thecourse.
The course was inaugurated by Dr. G.P. Phondke,Director. PID. He also delivered the theme lecture in whichhe dealt with various levels and channels of S & Tcommunication. The faculty for the course was drawn fromexperienced science communicators and editors ol PID Inaddition, some outside experts also addressed theparticipants.
Prof H.Y. Mohan Ram, Department of Botany, Universityof Delhi, and Chairman, PID-RC, spoke on Ethics ofConun unication in Science. He discussed plagiarism and otherdishonest practices followed by some scientists whilepublishing their results. Stating that honesty is an essentialfactor in the scientific field, he emphasized the need to keepintegrity in publishing of scientific results. Dr. Gian Singh,Scientist PID, proposed the vote of thanks.
Designing and Illustrating Scientific Publications —Workshop
A workshop on Designing and Illustrating ScientificPublications1 was organized by the Publications & informationDirectorate (PID), New Delhi, from 15 to 19 February 1993.Sixteen participants from different institutes, which areengaged in bringing out scientific publications, attended theworkshop.
The workshop was inaugurated by the noted artist GopiGajwani of the American Centre, New Delhi. Addressing theparticipants he pointed out that designing of a publication is aspecialized field like any branch of science, whose mainpurpose is to improve communication, and to make readinginteresting and comfortable. It calls upon the designer to havea proper understanding of the target audience. Shri Gajwanistressed the importance of typography, proper placement ofthe various parts of the text and judicious use of colours inmaking the publication more attractive. Discussing the aim ofthe workshop, Dr. G.P. Phondke, Director, PID, said thatdesigning and graphic presentation are integral parts ofscience communication. Science communication aims atbreaking the barriers between the various disciplines ofscience, leading to inter-disciplinary research, andestablishing a relationship between science and society.The workshop, he said was an attempt to bring togetherscientists, editors and artists to discuss ways for improvingscience communication.
Dr. Phondke mentioned the various levels at which ascientist or technologist has to communicate; each level has
its own vocabulary, degree of complexity, presentation formatand design requirements. Gobd illustrations and design of thetext can often help remove the inhibition of a reader forreading a scientific publication, he added.
Among the scientists who addressed the participantswere Dr. M.N.M. Rao of the National Physical Laboratory, andProf. Asis Datta of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.Dr. Rao discussed the evolution of life on earth and thepossibility of extraterrestrial life. Prof. Datta spoke on thefundamental concepts of biotechnology After the talks theparticipants held discussions with the speakers to prepareillustrations on these topics.
A team of expert designers/illustrators, namely RameshKothari from Ahmedabad, Ramesh Sanzgiri and VithalNadkarni from Bombay, and Ravi Paranjape from Pune,briefed the participants about the fundamentals of art, designand illustration. The aspects covered included history of artand design, evolution of design, typography, layout, and useof multimedia in design and illustration Dr. PradeepSrivastava ol the Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow,highlighted the role of cartoons (scientoons) in sciencecommunication. Shri Nadkami stressed on the interactionbetween scientists and artists in improving the quality ofscientific publications. Shri Paranjape spoke on thetechnique of perspective rendering of architechturaldesigns. Hole of computers in designing also came up fordiscussion.
Biman Basu and Pal lava Bagla of PID presented casestudies on illustrating popular science journals and bookspublished by PID.
Science Writers Convention
The Indian Science Writers Association held its firstnational convention at New Delhi during 1 2 - 1 3 February,1993. Over 100 participants comprising scientists, sciencepolicy makers, science editors, reporters and writersattended.
Inaugurating the Convention, Dr. S.K. Joshi, Director-General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research,New Delhi exhorted the participants to work towards 10 to 15per cent of time and space in the media (or coverage ofissues relating to S & T. He particularly emphasized the needtor active participation of institutions like the Indian NationalScience Academy and institutes engaged in the popularizationof science like the Publications and Information Directorate,New Delhi.
•S 8 T are soon going to change the very life styles ofpeople. The responsibility of preparing the people to thiscultural shock is in the hands of science communicators"Dr. Joshi, who has also just taken over as the President ofthe Indian National Science Academy, also emphasized theobligatory role of scientists to interact more closely with
21
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
science communicators by providing them timely informationabout their activities. "Our Parliamentarians, non-scientistsintellectuals, and general public have to be well informedabout issues in S & T" Dr. Joshi concluded
A Souvenir and a directory of ISWA members were alsoreleased on this occasion.
The two day meet focussed on the following areas.Status of coverage o( S & T in audio-visual media and meansof improvement The need (or expanded coverage of hardscience news in the print media and means to achieve itReasons for inadequate discussion of science in theParliament and how to rectify the situation Find means tointeract with Parliamentarians to keep them well informed onissues of S & T. Take stock of trained pool of qualifiedscience communicators and find means to improve thenumber and quality in this area.
In the Session on electronic media, senior professionalsshared their own special problems. Usha Bhasin, an All IndiaRadio official complained about lack of good ideas for scienceprogrammes on the AIR
Experiences with the popular science television serialTurning Point were shared by M.M. Choudhury of the TimesTV. He explained the reasons'why this science TV serial ispopular ever since its started in 1991. If may be due to theirefforts in maintaining quality and accuracy of contents.Apparently the producers of the serial believe in takingscience literacy from top-down and therefore the programmeis made in English He lamented the lack of support,particularly from private industrial houses without whosesponsorship it is difficult to make good quality scienceprogrammes for the TV. As in the case of radio, Choudhurysaid, that there is a dearth of good script writers experiencedin communicating science through the TV.
That print media has its own oddities was eloquentlybrought out by the panelists. Surendra Jha, commentedruefully that the status of science coverage andpopularization in the media continues to be deplorable.Coming as it does from the former editor of the popularscience magazine India has seen — Science Today (thoughclosed now) — it does not augur well for the country with anexpanding base of S S T and ever increasing illiteratepopulation exposed to new technology be it cabls TV or anew disease with an acronym like AIDS. He said that unlesswe involve the decision makers in this process, very little canbe achieved.
Results of perhaps the only survey undertaken on theawareness of science by Parliamentarians were presented byAshok Jain, Director of the CSIR's National Institute ofScience, Technology and Development Studies. This Delhi-based Institute polled the Parliamentarians about theirawareness and interest in issues relating S S T. A majorityof MPs agreed that there is lack of adequate discussion oiS & T issues in the Parliament. The major constraints
22 according to them include lack of public pressure,inadequate importance given by the political parties,inadequate training and lack of proper briefing. But nearly
everyone agreed with the need for more emphasis as theybelieved that social upliflment is possible only throughS 8 T.
(i) Scientific knowledge and technological informationmust be made accessible to the sciencecommunicators for dissemination to the people ofIndia. "Science education" be made a "sciencemission" in the 8th Plan, and private-Indus trialsector should be asked to take up the task of"popularisation of science".
(ii) In order to overcome lack of science awarenessamong the public, and communication skills amongprofessionals, short term and long term sciencecommunication courses should be encouraged."Science communication" course (paper) should bemade an integral to Science degrees in collegesand universities.
(iii) Greater coverage of science and technology newsand reporting is necessary if the citizens are tothink critically about science policy and publicpolicy issues and participate in the S S T publicpolicy decision making process. But, politics havebecome an obsession with the national press. Incontrast, news and studies about scientific researchand lectures and seminars on important SATsubjects receive little attention of our national press.As a part of National Science CommunicationPolicy, it is suggested, our Parliament and the printmedia may consider devoting at least fifteen percent of its time and space to problems and issues,news and events of S & T ministries anddepartments and on related topics of scienceand technology. We recommend formulationof National Science Communication Policy.
Mr N.C. Jain, Jt. Secretary, ISWA has been awardedthe Raizada Memorial Award-1992 for Young InformationScientists of the Society for Information Science, New Delhifor his contributions in the dissemination of S&T information.Mr Jain received a merit certificate and a medal during theinaugural function ot the Annual Convention of the Societyheld at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology,Hyderabad.
IT ASIA 93
MAIT will organise its trade show for this year, providinganother opportunity for the Indian sellers to showcase theirbest wares and justify their presence among an Internationalaudience. Spread over four days from 16 to 19 September1993, it will primarily be a focussed business evert, enablingthe best of the Indian IT (not computer alone) to be shownand providing ample opportunity to help itself grow inter-nationally. Over a sprawling 60,000 sq ft of air-conditionedexhibition space at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, there will bea wide option of stall sizes to choose from Seminars onhardware S software application solutions and lectures ontechnology will be held, alongwith manufacturerspresentations.
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
A two-pronged strategy has been developed to make ITASIA '93 an aHround success.
For the first time, a SITO (Southeast Asia InformationTechnology Organisation) CEO Round Table Meeting shall beconvened to coincide with the dates of the exposition.
In order to ease product definition and serviceidentification, the exhibition shall also be divided into 3 broadcategories.
General: For those exhibitors covering a comprehensiverange of IT activities.
Solutions: For those displaying solutions on multipleplatforms and showing their own developed products/services.Under this, the computer education and corporate training isexpected to be covered also, and
OEM For those exhibitors manufacturing peripherals andsub-assemblies which are used as Original Equipment (OE) inbranded machines, plastic/metal cabinets, power supplies,PCBs, etc.
INFLIBNET Training Programme*
The Information and Library Network Programmeorganized its First Training Course on Application of Computerto Library and Information Services during Nov. 23-December,12, 1992 at Ahmedabad.
The course covered basic theory to familiariseparticipants with data preparation, data capturing, informationretrieval, standards, modern services etc. These were followedby demonstration, assignments and extensive practicalsessions in the computer laboratory in the use of variouslibrary management software packages viz CDS/ISIS, SANJAYand similar Multiuser packages. Demonstrations were alsogiven for E-Mail service and remote access to central databases Special lectures were arranged on experience in libraryautomation by experts actually involved in the computerisationof their libraries.
Participants were selected from university libraries, whichhave already been sanctioned PC/AT-3S6 with appropriatesoftware by Computer Development Committee (CDC) ofUniversity Grants Commission for INFLIBNET work. Otheruniversity libraries which are already equipped with computeror in the process of acquiring computer were also includedThis is to ensure that the knowledge gained during training isimmediately put to use. Maximum number of participants havebeen restricted to 20 based on the available computerfacilities. A two person team from each university comprisingone person with library science background and one personwith computer science background was selected. Participantsfrom Goa, Gulbarga, Gujarat Kakatiya, Kalyani, Marathwada,Mother Terressa Women's, North-East Hill Roorkee, S.N.D.TWomen's and Sri Venkateswara University attend d thecourse
INFOTEX '93
An International Conference and Exhibit on databaseproduction and distribution: resources, technology and
management will be held at Bangalore, India during 28 Nov 1Dec. 1993.
INFOTEX '93 intends to focus on the role that countrieslike Indian in the developing world need to play in the globalalliance of information industry and profession. INFOTEX '93also aims to offer a common platform for joint ventures bothat the academic and the industry level.
The Society for Information Science (SIS), New Delhi,India, are promoters for the Conference organised by theInformatics (India) Pvt Ltd, Bangalore.
Database is the prime resource of information industry.The inputs required to design, develop, produce and distributethe databases form the theme of the Conference. Sevensessions, being planned, will reflect several aspects of thistheme and will focus on all issues relating to resources,technology and management employed in database productionand distribution.
Papers are invited in the following areas:
• Intellectual base for database production;
• Production technology for database industry;
• Full text databases;
• Retrieval engines;
• Online-emerging trends and challenges;
• CO-ROM and multimedia;
• Impact of new media and new technologies onpublishing and global dissemination/distribution ofinformation resources; and
• Marketing opportunities in developing world.
All papers will be published by Tata McGraw-Hill wellbefore the conference. There will be awards for three bestpapers.
Sponsors hi p5 for the Conference are welcome fromorganisations involved in the acbvities of databasedevelopment, production and dissemination.
A unique feature of the Conference is integration ofConference sessions and exhibits. State-of-the-art exhibitsreflecting the Conference theme will serve as the backgroundfor the Conference. Exhibitors will have the opportunity topresent their products and technology during relevantsessions.
For furftar information, write to: The Conference Co-ordinator, INFOTEX •$$ CrO Informatics (inda) Pvt LtdInformation PB No. 360, No. 87, II Floor 11th Cross.Malteswaram Bangalore 560 003.
23UGC-AHU
The University Grants Commission will conduct Bubject-oriented refresher courses in Library and Informatics Science
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
at Aligarti Muslim University during 1993-94. The themeschosen are: 1) Academic Library Management — Problemsand Prospects Dates: 20 Aug. 93 to 17 Sept. 93. 2) Trendsin Library and Information Services. Dates 3 Jan. 94 to 2Feb. 94.
Closing date for theme {1} is 10 July '93 and tor theme(2) 15 Nov. '93. Applications and further details are availablefrom the Director, Academic Staff College, Aligarh MuslimUniversity, Aligarh 202 002.
India'* First CD Manufacturing Facility
Compact Disc India Limited is setting up the country'sfirst facility for manufacture of compact discs (CDs) intechnical and financial collaboration with Netstal ?nd FirstLight Technology Inc. of USA.
Compact disc is the new revolutionary recording mediumfor storing sound, data and video images. Although, CDs haveworld-wide market of more than 900 million discs per annum,india does not have any manufacturing facilities for them.
Compact Disc India Limited plans to set up tha CDproject at a cost of Rs. 1 1 . 7 5 crore with a manufacturingcapacity of 4.2 million CDs per annum.
Compact discs were an outcome of the opticalmemories technology which revolutionised music storagearound the world by making piracy virtually impossible,providing at the same time, a high quality medium forrecording.
The technology also provided piracy proof recordingmedium for storage of data and video images. The Kodakcompany of Japan has recently also developed a CD forrecording still photographs.
However, while the world market of compact discs isestimated to be growing at more than 20 per cent per annum,the Indian market has been slow to take off on account oflack of availability of hardware for playing back CDs andtheir high cost of imports.— AIS Tech. News Vol. 4, No. 1Jan-March 1993.
Compendex Plus Database at Tha par Institute ofEngineering & Technology, Pa Hal a
The Central Library of the Institute has obtained apowerful search tool — Compendex Plus Database from theyear 1988 onwards.
Engineering Index is the most comprehensive index ofcurrent periodical literature in all the branches of engineeringand allied sciences. The printed version of Engineering Indexis now available in CD-ROM format also and this computersearchable version is named: Compendex Plus.
Capacity of one disc is 2,50,000 pages of text of A-424 size. Compendex Plus contains abstracts of research papers
of journals, technical reports, engineering society publications,conference proceedings and individual conference papers inengineering and related fields. Compendex Plus scans 1500international engineering journals exhaustively, more than 200selectively, and 600 conference proceedings to prepare this
database. It covers ovary engineering discipline including bio-chemistry, chemical, civil, electronics, computer,communication, mechanical, auto motives, transportation,materials and many more.
The Library has also produced Hitachi CD- ROM Drive1700 stand alone model which is attached to the Computerand user can easily get the desired information on screen andtake a print.
The Database can be searched in the computerworkstation of the Library by working engineers, faculty andP.O. students of the engineering institutions in Punjab,Haryana & Himachal Pradesh.
Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Databa**
Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Abstracts (MAPA)Database covers the abstracts of the current world literatureon medicinal & aromatic plants. The database has beenprepared by the Publications & Information Directorate (PID)of CSIR. Nearly 600 journals published in 22 languages from55 countries are scanned for information. Under a bilateralagreement, some member countries of Association for ScienceCooperation in Asia (ASCA) are sending their inputs from theirrespective countries for MAPA. This prestigious indigenousdatabase is immensely useful to scientists and R&D personnelworking in the field.
UNESBIB Onlln»
Online access to UNESBIB, the bibliographic databaseof all documents and publications of the United NationsEducational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation {Unesco)since 1946, is now available on ECHO, the host of theCommission of the European Communities (CEC).
The database is intended lor use by: universities, reachinstitutions, governmental bodies, libraries and all othersconcerned with the aims and activities of Unesco, which arereflected widely in published work covering the fields ofeducation, science and technology, social science humanitiesand culture, communication, information, libraries and archives.
Documents on the database include the main documentsworking series, conference papers, mission reports speechesof the Director-General, Executive Board and GeneralConference documents. Publications include monographs andarticles of Unesco since 1946.
The printed version of the database is the Unesco list ofdocuments and publications, which is published quarterly withannual and triennial cumulations. Copies can be obtained fromthe Unesco Information, Library and Archives Division (DIT/IR).
To access UNESBIB on ECHO, to obtain documentationand a free password, ptease contact: ECHO, BP 2373, L-1023Luxembourg GD.—UNISIST Newsletter, No. 4, 1992.
Trademarks on CD-ROM
ROMARIN is a new CO-ROM, just launched by theWorld Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). it containsinformation on all trademarks registered under the MadridAgreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
in the International Register maintained by WIPO'sInternational Bureau, and which are currently in force.
The ROMARIN CD-ROMs (ROMARIN stand tor 'Read-Only-memory ot Madrid Actualized Registry Information') havebeen available since June 1992; they were developed jointlywith Jouve Systemes d'lnformatai in Paris, France.
The CD-ROMs contain such information (on each mark)as: the serial number of its registration, Hie mark itself, thename and address of the owner, and data on exclusions orlimitations.
If a mark contains ot consists of an image, the image isstored on the CD-ROM in facsimile or bit-map mode.
The total number of international registrations presentlyvalid in WIPO's International Register is around 280,000,approximately one third of which have images. The oldestvalid mark was first registered in 1893.
Most of the data are indexed, and can be searched usinga wide range of parameters, including the serial number ol theregistration, the name of the owner, or the details of the mark.Search software has been specially designed.
At present, two CD-ROMs (one containing the completedata from the register, the other containing the images), aredistributed. The bibliographic data are provided monthly, theimage data once a year.
ROMARIN runs on 60386 or 80486-type PCs with atleast four megabytes of RAM, an 80Mb hard disk and afloppy drive. Two CD-ROM drives are preferable. A yearlysubscription to ROMARIN costs CHF2.000, but a free trial ofsample data, as well as further details, are available fromMr. Paul Claus, Director Advisor, WIPO, 34 chemin desColombettes, 1 2 1 1 Geneva 20, Switzerland.
Diffusion of Advanced Telecommunications In DevelopingCountries
Few changes are having a greater impact on the abilityof firms and countries to compete in global markets than therevolution in telecommunications. The new capabilities ofinformation processing and transmission are profoundlytransforming are requirements for human skills, for capitalequipment and for corporate strategies in countless manu-lecturing 'and service industries. This transformation aflectsboth developed and developing countries.
A study published by the Organisation of EconomicCo-operation and Development (OECD) examines in detail theeconomic factors underlying the speedy adoption of advancedtelecommunications in many newly industrializing economiesand shows how they can catch up with — and evenleapfrog — certain OECD countries. The study citesmacroeconomic evidence and provides a model of diffusionlinking technological change, investment and productivitygrowth
UAP Workshop In Egypt
A workshop on [he Universal Availability of Publications
(UAP) in Arab-speaking countries was held in Cairo from 12to 14 January 1993.
The meeting was organised by the following bodies: theEgyptian National Scientific and Technical Information Network(ENSTINET) and the IFLA Programme for UAP. Financial .assistance was provided by the British Council, the BritishLibrary, the University of Batn {United Kingdom) and PGI.
The main objective of the workshop was to improve theavailability of publications in Arab-speaking countries,especially in the Middle East region by, in particular, offeringpractical guidance on the development of appropriate modelsfor inter library co-operation and providing practical experienceof the capabilities of electronic methods of document deliveryand communications.
Over 40 librarians and information scientists from Egypt.Jordan, Lebanon. Sudan, Syria, the United Arab Emirates andYemen attended the meeting the programme of which includea detailed presentation of UAP and document deliverysystems, the role of CD-ROM in the provision of documentdelivery services as well as detailed studies of the librarycooperation situation in various countries in the region.
A series .of resolutions at the national and regional levelwas passed by the participants to increase and facilitateinteriibrary cooperation. It was also recommended that furtherassistance from IFLA and UNESCO be requested for theorganisation of several workshops among which a Seminar,under the aegis of the UAP Programme, to review theprogress made these resolutions.
AV Documentation and Archiving In Bhutan
For the development of the Bhutan Broadcasting Service(BBS), two consultants. Messrs George Boston and SteveHartwell, were Sent to Bhutan to work out an integratedsystem of news and programme creation, including adocumentation system.
As BBS has several Macintoshes, the software HyperCardwas seen by the consultants as being a particularlyappropriate technology to link the data needed lor differentproduction and documentation functions in a convenient,user-friendly manner. This software now enables a news orprogramme producer to;
— commission a new programme;
— prepare the programme script
The advantage of this programme is that thecommissioning and writing of the programme are themselvesthe actions that enter the data into the archives, creating boththe catalogue entries and the documentation itself. Data aboutprogrammes, including full scripts as used on-air, can bequickly retrieved by name of programme, producer, datasubject or key words.
A special feature built into HyperCard is pop-up choicesfor standard data, such as names of producers, programme 25series, languages used, regions of the country, tape formats.These pop-up choices help to prevent misspellings orinconsistent entry of data. A single standardized data entryform facilitates search and retrieval.
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
This application of HyperCard on Macintosh computer isnow being used and tested by BBS. The solution adopted byBhutan may well be relevant to other countries wherearchiving expertise is limited. It ensures vigorous and correctinputting for all basic data, while at the same time providingediting facilities. The producer, in creating his programme, atthe same time correctly catalogues and documents it in oneand the same action.
Arabised Version of CDS/ISIS
Version 3.0 of micro CDS/ISIS has recently beenarabised with the help of Mr. Jaafar Jaffal of the Arab LeagueDocumentation Centre (ALDOC) and is now available fordistribution. This version is fully compatible with the standardversion, and includes local area network support.
This arabization of version 3.0 takes advantage of thelatest features provided by Microsoft MS-DC3S with ArabicLanguage Support, which is required to run the arabizedversion of CDS/ISIS.
Industrial Development Abstracts now on Diskette
Industrial Development Abstracts (IDA), a machine-readable source of information on UNIDO activities onindustrialization in developing countries is now available ondiskette. The IDA database contains over 20,000 fully indexedrecords UNIDO documentation. It includes descriptions ofmajor UNIDO studies and reports, publications in series andselected articles: reports and proceedings of expert workinggroups, workshops aid seminars; internal studies; and reportsrelated to UNIDO technical assistance activities. The lime-frame is from 1965 to today. New entries are added eachmonth.
A typical entry contains the title of the document, themaster file number of ordering the full text, the authors) and /or corporate aulhors(s) date, bibliographic information,language, and an English-language abstract of approximately60 words describing the work.
The Industrial Development Abstracts database ismaintained on the UNIDO mainframe computer at Vienna. Itis. however, possible to obtain a selection of records, togetherwith many-driven search software, on diskette for use on PCs.These subsets run directly from diskette on IBM-compatiblePCs and are available in 3.5 in. (1.44 Mb) or 5.25 in. (1 .2Mb) densities.
Subsets of the IDA database are available for thefollowing industrial sectors:
• Electronics, electrical industry• Leather and leather products
• Building materials, cement, ceramics
• Industrial manpower training
26 • Wood and wood product
• Textiles and wearing apparel
• Iron and steel, non-ferrous metals• Petrochemicals, chemicals
• Food processing
• Fertilizers
• Environment• P harm ace uticals
• Capital goods, machinery
Each subset contains approximately 600 records andcosts $35 ($25 for records from developing countries andEastern Europe). This price includes the search software.The documents cited in the IDA database are available eitheron microfiche or, in some cases, in paper copy. Requests fordocuments other than sales publications should refer to themaster file number and be sent to the address below. Eachmicrofiche costs $ 2.00 (for diazo fiche) or $2.50 (for silverhalide fiche). For paper copies of reports of 10 pages of less,the charge for reproduction and surface mailing is $10. Forarticles up to 50 pages, the charge is $25. and for up to 100pages, $ 35 For documents over 100 pages, microficheshould be ordered. It should be noted that if a document isstill in stock, a copy will be provided free of charge.
To place an order, or for further information, pleasecontact:
Chief, Industrial and Technology Information Section,UNIDO, P.O. Box 300, A-1400 Vienna, Austria.
Industrial Statistics Handbook
The UNIOO Handbook of Industrial Statistics 1992 hasjust been published. This unique and comprehensive referencework, now in its sixth edition, provides detailed up-to-datestatistical information that is not available from any othersingle source. It presents internationally comparable statisticsfor over 120 counties at different levels of detail in industry/product specification. The data appearing in the Handbookhave been collected from national and international sourcesand supplemented through field work by UNIDO statisticians.
Information concerning major fields of industrialperformance and industrial development can be found in theHandbook. These include measures of industrial growth andrelated long-term trends, indicators of structural change forboth the manufacturing sector and individual industries,evidence regarding patterns of employment, wages andsalaries, value added, gross output, patterns of consumptionfor specific manufactured commodities and related trends intrade in manufactures.
In compiling the data and indicators described above,UNIDO statisticians have given priority to the development ifindicators which are internationally comparable amongcountries and across industries. The data to be found in theHandbook are also constructed at the most detailed levelpossible. Thus, the results of this work constitute a valuablesource of information on world industry for researchers anddecision makers. The Handbook Of Industrial Statistics 1992will be an essential source of reference for industrialeconomists and government officials needing an assessmentof economic and industrial bends. It will also be invaluablefor business people seeking trade and investmentopportunities, industrial joint ventures and financial agreementsin industrialized and developing countries.
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
The handbook (ISBN 1-85272-792-9) is priced at E 95. Itcomprises 597 pages and is available in English from salesagents or Irom Denise Riddell, Edward Elgar Publishing,Gowor House, Croft Road, Aldershot, Hampshire GU11 3HR,United Kingdom.
New Periodical
IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking is a new archival,bi-monthly journal available from February 1993. Jointlysponsored by the IEEE Communications and IEEE Computersocieties and the Association tor Computing Machinery (ACM),the journal will reflect the multi disciplinary nature ofcommunications networks.
It will publish high quality papers, advancing the state-of-the-art and practical applications ol communication networkson theoretical research (including new techniques, conceptsand analyses) and applied contributions
With annual subscription at $ 22, IEEE/ACM Transactionson networking will also provide information on the latest workon highspeed data communications; papers on networkingdesign, protocols and technologies, and professionalcompetence, IEEE and ACM bring to the field.
Topics to be covered in IEEE/ACM Transactions onNetworking include: network architecture and design;communication protocols; network software; networktechnologies; network services and applications and networkoperations and management For further details, write to:
IEEE Communications SocietyThe Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers, Inc345 East, 47th StreetNew York, USA.
— Computer 2 5 ( 1 1 ) , 1992, 10
CPIS
A monthly bulletin under the title Current PublishedInformation on Standardization has been launched by theTechnical information Services Centre of the Bureau of IndianStandards, New Delhi, the bulletin gives upto date informationon standards, technical regulations and certification systems ofIndia and other countries of the world. It is a compilation ofabstracts of important articles on standardization, conformityassessment, testing and related issues published in more than500 technical journals which are being received by the BISperiodicals section.
The annual subscription of the bulletin is Rs 300/$ 60.For further information please contact Director, TechnicalInformation Services Centre, Bureau of Indian Standards,Bahadur Shah Zaiar, Marg, New Delhi-110002.
Economic Growth with Clean Production
An International Conference is being jointly organised byCSIRO Australia and UNIDO at World Congress Centre,Melbourne during 7-10 February 1994.
The objective of this conference is to provide a forum forexamination of issues of economic growth accompanied byclean production, with particular reference to countries of theAsia-Pacific region.
The theme of the conference targets the new approachthat is emerging tot environmental management, whichreverses the priorities for management of pollutants inindustry. Pollution prevention opportunities such as productand process changes and on-site recycling and recovery arelooked at first, before turning to pollution abatmont measures.
This conference builds on and extends the outcomes ofthe successful Asia-Pacific Cleaner Production Conferenceheld in Melbourne, Australia in February 1992.
Enquiries to: Conference Australia Pty Ltd GPO Box1469 N Melbourne, Victoria 3001 Australia
Online Information for Chemical Industry —NICHEM Workshop
The National Information Centre for Chemistry andChemical Technology (NICHEM) Pune organized a one dayworkshop on 19 April '93 to introduce participants to a wealthof information available in a large number of databases in thefield of chemical industry which can be searched online usingtelecommunication networks. The workshop was attended byR & D and project managers and planning and marketresearch personnel.
Geographical Information System
UNDP has approved funding of a database andgeographical information system (GIS) in Bangladesh. Throughthe database and GIS, information on soils, climates and plantproperties will be available to rural farmers.
The database and GIS will help farmers identify cropdiversification possibilities, develop efficient andenvironmentally sound farming practices: and map outstrategies to best deal with disasters. The project is expectedto contribute to higher production and farm income, improvednutrition, and enhanced employment opportunities for the ruralpoor.
UNDP contribution; S 1.8 million. Funds will provide forinternational and national experts, including specialists inagro-climatology and land resource management. Equipmentand overseas training will also be provided.
FICCI Programme on SPC
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce andIndustry has launched a computer-aided training programmeon statistical process control as part of its total qualitymanagement programme. The first such programme thatincluded application of computer simulation software forunderstanding of the SPC concept was attended by 25persons across the country.
Computer Journalism
The Press Institute of India in Delhi introduced a short-term Course in 'Computer Journalism'. It will cover Lotus,Dbase IV, Q-Basic, Wordstar and Pascal for the students ofjournalism.
New Names lor NAL & CFB
The National Aeronautical Laboratory (NAL], Bangalorehas been renamed as National Aerospace Laboratories,and the CSIR Centre for Biochemicals (CFB), New Delhi, hasbeen renamed as Centre for Biochemical Technologyw.e.t. 1 April 1993.
27
NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 2, 1993
Write-once Optical Disk Storage :
In simple lerms, Write-Once Read-Many (WORM) disks operate by data being permanently written to the disk by a write laseras a series of optical discontinuities. This data is then read from the disk by the use of a less powerful read laser, which revealsthe discontinuities to a sensing device. Generally WORM disks have been used as high-capacity data storage devices. Thefollowing is a list of UN organizations that currently are using or planning to use WORM technology for optical storage.
Organization
Economic and SocialCommission for Asiaand the Pacific (ESCAP)
Economic Commission forAfrica (EGA)
Food and AgricultureOrganization of the UnitedStates (FAO)
International AtomicEnergy Agency (IAEA)
International Civil AviationOrganization (ICAO)
International TradeCentre (ITC)
United Nations (UN) —Geneva
United Nations Centre forHuman Settlements(Habitat) — UNCHS
United Nations Departmentof Humanitarian Affairs(UN DHA) — Geneva
United NationsDevelopment Programme(UNDP)
United Nations PopulationFund (UNFPA)
United Nations University(UNU)
World Food Programme(WFP)
World Health Organization
World Intellectual ProperlyOrganisation (WIPO)
Status
Using
Planning
Planning
Planning
Planning
Planning
Using
Using
Planning
Using
Using
Planning
Planning
Planning
Using
Application
•Backup to magnetic disk storage on PC/ Workstation,alternative to magnetic tape for mini/mainframebackup
Document Image Processing, text, DesktopPublishing backup, network mass storage. ComputerOutput to Laser Disk, distribution
Managing Desktop Publishing files, databasedevelopment and maintenance, Document storage
Document Image Processing
Document Image Processing, Management of text files
Data distribution
Document Image Processing, data distribution accessto United Nations documents
Aerial photographs, GI5 applications
Text files, backup to magnetic disks on PC/Work-station, network mass storage
Archiving/storing on-line data processing application
Text files, Desktop Publishing Tiles, multimediapublications
Document Image Processing, text files
Desktop Publishing files, data distribution
Data distribution
Document Image Processing, text files, networkmass storage or client-server system
* Designed by eminent library scientists and computerspecialists under the auspices of NISSAT.
* Encompasses all activities of a library.
* Networked for libraries to share resources.
* Designed to international standards for data security anddatabase management.
* Supports UNIMARC.
* Suitable for small/big libraries.
* ACQUISITION, CATALOGUING, CIRCULATION,SERIALS CONTROL, QUERIES & REPORTS,UNION CATALOGUE, INTER LIBRARY LOAN,E-MAIL & other features.
For more details, contact:
Mr. S SasmalCMC Limited
28, Camac StreetCalcutta-700 016
INICMC Limited
(Government of India Lnlerpnsc)
NISSAT Announces the Release ofData Management and Statistical Analysis Software
supported by UNESCO
Micro IDAMSVer 3.0The 30 Module Software includes facilities for
* Data validation, Transformation of data values, Univariate & Bivariate Frequency Dis-tributions & Related Statistics, Correlation Analysis, Multiple Regression Analysis,Analysis of Variance, Iterative Typology, Factorial Analysis including Analysis ofCorrespondence, Multidimensional Scaling, Partial Order Scoring, Rank Ordering ofAlternatives and so on ...
* Linkage with Micro CDS/ISIS for exploitation of texuat/numeric databases
Handling Charges
* Software with Manual & License Rs. 1500/-
* Additional Manual Rs. 500/-
Demand Draft / Local Cheque may he drawn in favour of ATIRA, payable at Ahmedahad.
For Transfer Agreement forms and other details contact:
NISSAT Mr. P. C. ShahDepartment of Scientific & Project Co-ordinator
