delnet Newsletter Vol. 24 Nos. 1 & 2 December 2017 NACLIN 2017 : A Report Dr. Sangeeta Kaul* * Network Manager, DELNET and Organising Secretary, NACLIN 2017 The 20 th National Convention on Knowledge, Library and Information Networking – NACLIN 2017 on the theme “A Digital Universe of Infinite Possibilities for Libraries” was organised by DELNET at the India International Centre, New Delhi from November 28- 30, 2017. It was inaugurated on November 28, 2017 by the Chief Guest Hon’ble Shri N. N. Vohra, Governor, Jammu & Kashmir. The Guests of Honour were Prof. Anil D. Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE, New Delhi and Prof. C.R. Karisiddappa, Former President, Indian Library Association (ILA) & Former Professor and Chairman, DLISc, Karnatak University, Dharwad. Ms. Aruna Adiceam, Deputy Counsellor for Cooperation & Cultural Affairs, Country Deputy Director, French Institute in India, Embassy of France was the Special Invitee. The Hon’ble Chief Guest Shri N. N. Vohra inaugurated the Convention by lighting the lamp. Dr. Sangeeta Kaul, Network Manager, DELNET and Organising Secretary, NACLIN 2017 delivered the welcome address. Dr. H. K. Kaul, Director, DELNET delivered the introductory address. He said that the 1 st NACLIN in 1998 was presided over by Shri N. N. Vohra and now the 20 th NACLIN was inaugurated by him. He further said that though the journey of DELNET was interesting but it was difficult too. Dr. Kaul said that though DELNET resources and membership during the last 19 years have increased appreciably, but we have to work extensively to network all libraries in India. He said that more and more libraries should join DELNET and get benefited and modernised to serve their users better. He said that DELNET’s ILL facility is the best in South Asia. He expressed his gratitude to the Hon’ble P.M. Shri Narendra Modi for releasing a message for the souvenir who reiterated that libraries need to get modernised and they have to provide quality information to the users, students and teachers in the country. Dr. Kaul said that DELNET has already more than 6000 Institutions as its members. He added that the technical libraries have improved due to the active programmes of AICTE in the recent years. The entire technical education system is moving ahead with the times and the library sector in it is the one sector which really needs to be upgraded further. DELNET is trying its best in this regard. Dr. Kaul said that DELNET wants the necessary information to reach every citizen in the country and they should benefit from it. He further lauded the Digital India Movement of the Government of Hon'ble Shri N. N. Vohra inaugurating NACLIN 2017
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delnetNewsletter
Vol. 24 Nos. 1 & 2 December 2017
NACLIN 2017 : A ReportDr. Sangeeta Kaul*
* Network Manager, DELNET and OrganisingSecretary, NACLIN 2017
The 20th National Convention onKnowledge, Library and InformationNetworking – NACLIN 2017 on thetheme “A Digital Universe of InfinitePossibilities for Libraries” was organisedby DELNET at the India InternationalCentre, New Delhi from November 28-30, 2017. It was inaugurated onNovember 28, 2017 by the Chief GuestHon’ble Shri N. N. Vohra, Governor,Jammu & Kashmir. The Guests ofHonour were Prof. Anil D.Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE, NewDelhi and Prof. C.R. Karisiddappa,Former President, Indian LibraryAssociation (ILA) & Former Professorand Chairman, DLISc, KarnatakUniversity, Dharwad. Ms. ArunaAdiceam, Deputy Counsellor forCooperation & Cultural Affairs, CountryDeputy Director, French Institute inIndia, Embassy of France was theSpecial Invitee.
The Hon’ble Chief Guest Shri N. N.Vohra inaugurated the Convention bylighting the lamp.
Dr. Sangeeta Kaul, Network Manager,DELNET and Organising Secretary,NACLIN 2017 delivered the welcomeaddress.
Dr. H. K. Kaul, Director, DELNETdelivered the introductory address. Hesaid that the 1st NACLIN in 1998 waspresided over by Shri N. N. Vohra and
now the 20th NACLIN was inauguratedby him. He further said that though thejourney of DELNET was interesting butit was difficult too. Dr. Kaul said thatthough DELNET resources andmembership during the last 19 yearshave increased appreciably, but wehave to work extensively to network alllibraries in India. He said that more andmore libraries should join DELNET andget benefited and modernised to servetheir users better. He said that DELNET’sILL facility is the best in South Asia. Heexpressed his gratitude to the Hon’bleP.M. Shri Narendra Modi for releasing amessage for the souvenir who reiterated
that libraries need to get modernisedand they have to provide qualityinformation to the users, students andteachers in the country. Dr. Kaul saidthat DELNET has already more than6000 Institutions as its members.
He added that the technical librarieshave improved due to the activeprogrammes of AICTE in the recentyears. The entire technical educationsystem is moving ahead with the timesand the library sector in it is the onesector which really needs to beupgraded further. DELNET is trying itsbest in this regard. Dr. Kaul said thatDELNET wants the necessaryinformation to reach every citizen inthe country and they should benefitfrom it. He further lauded the DigitalIndia Movement of the Government of
India and opined that the librarysector should actively get involved inthe Digital India Movement. He saidthat public libraries were controlled byvarious state governments and thateach state had its own priorities. Headded that the necessary financialsupport should be made available topublic libraries by the stategovernments.
Dr. Kaul expressed his concern thatthe footfall in libraries was decliningand the main reason for it was thatusers were getting more informationfrom the Web. He further reiteratedthat libraries had to wake up asinformation is doubling every fewmonths and it was becoming difficultfor students to collect quality contentfrom all the information availablethrough the Web. Library professionalsshould play a pivotal role in this regard.
He added that DELNET has to playa major role and libraries have toprovide value-added information, new
information and tailored information tosuit every individual in order to develop aknowledge society. DELNET iscommitted to the modernisation oflibraries, networking of libraries and tothe spreading of knowledge.
Prof. Anil D. Sahasrabudhe, Chairman,AICTE, New Delhi said that AICTE-DELNET had signed an MOU in 2001.He said that each word in ‘Knowledge,Library & Information Networking’ issignificant for knowledge economy. Prof.Sahasrabudhe said that libraries existedfrom the times of Nalanda and it hadtaken 6 months for Nalanda to get fullyburnt as it had a huge repository ofdocuments. He said that though librariesexisted for several thousand years buttheir importance was never diminished.The library professionals, professors andfaculty members are now anxious thatthe number of students entering thelibraries these days is thinning. Thereason being the development of theInternet. Since the Internet grew rapidly,too much information has become
available through it and people do notrealise that it is all scattered and if youwant to distil it that could be done atplaces like libraries. He added that theacademicians also get worriedsometimes because a lot of digitalcontent was available throughMOOCs (Massive Open OnlineCourse). Many teachers felt threatenedthat their jobs were in danger. He saidthat we should remember that all oftechnology is an enabler and we shouldalso remember that libraries would berequired for good content though thenature of services will remain changing.He felt that we needed to change inaccordance with the modern timesand that the role of libraries wasessential in it. He affirmed that althoughthe courses are available online butthe role of competent teachers willalways be required.
He also wished DELNET to grow from6000 libraries to 10,000 libraries in thenear future. Prof. Sahasrabudhe saidthat libraries should be open 24/7. Headded that because of digital networkingtoday libraries are at your doorsteps, inyour rooms, on your mobile phone, onyour laptops and in your homes whetherin villages or cities. He said that thelibrary profession should make bestuse of the IT revolution.
He emphasised that ‘Digital India’,‘Make in India’, ‘Start up India’ arevital for everyone and more so far forLibrary & Information Scienceprofessionals. He said that it isnecessary that some of the startupsshould emerge which will distil theinformation for the users. He opinedthat as the use of information dependon the taste of the person, what type ofbook he would read and what type ofinformation he needed, could we notsegregate that information and give itas an elective? He felt that LibraryScience has a great future andDELNET is doing commendablework.
Prof. Sahasrabudhe added that inAICTE approved institutions 30%books collection could now be E-books,which may gradually increase to 50%.Students could have any library booksof their choice right in their hostel roomsor residences so that their readinghabits would improve as reading habitswere reducing as students were usingshortcuts. He further said that readinghabits had to improve and DELNEThad a great role to play. He appealed toeveryone to consolidate whatever theywere doing further to encourage ourstudents, faculty members in order tomake best use of the resources andmake India a proud nation.
Prof. C.R. Karisiddappa, FormerPresident, Indian Library Association(ILA) & Former Professor andChairman, DLISc, Karnatak University,Dharwad delivered the Guest of Honouraddress. He said 25 years was not ashort period in the life of an institutionand proudly said that DELNET hademerged as the country’s prestigiousinstitution. He said that great institutionsare built with enduring values. DELNET
is one such organisation which has areputation all over the country andoutside. DELNET has created newhorizons and continues to promoteaccess to scholarly material from time totime. He appreciated the efforts ofDELNET in providing training to LIS
professionals. As a result, they areempowered to cope with the informationexplosion and technology invasion. Hegreatly appreciated the role played bythe Founding Director of DELNET,Dr. H. K. Kaul and the contributionsmade by DELNET during the last 25years.
Ms. Aruna Adiceam, Deputy Counsellorfor Cooperation and Cultural Affairs,Country Deputy Director, FrenchInstitute in India, Embassy of Francedelivered the special address. She saidthat the French Embassy in India washappy to collaborate with DELNET inorganising NACLIN 2017 during BonjourIndia celebrations. She noted thatDELNET was offering an importantservice in India and there was possibilityof cooperation between similarinstitutions in France and DELNET.
It was followed by the release of NACLIN2017 proceedings by Shri N. N. Vohraand Prof. Anil D. Sahasrabudhereleased the NACLIN 2017 souvenir.Hon'ble Shri Vohra in his inauguraladdress said that DELNET took birth ina room 200 yards from here in theConference hall of the IIC. In the early
years, the progress of DELNET wasvery slow owing to day-to-daydifficulties, lack of telephoneconnections, leave aside Internet. Hesaid that there were many teethingproblems but over the years DELNEThas grown. He also observed that hefelt happy that for many years he wasassociated with this movement.
Shri Vohra said that, we have a longway to go. The concept ofglobalisation, free world market andhighly competitive environment arethe genesis of knowledge society. Ifyou are in a global situationcompetiting with the whole world withyour products and services, in thiscompetitive environment it is the levelof your knowledge, your technicalskills and your Science & Technologybase which will make you succeed orfail. He noted that the enormousrevolution which had been achievedin the past two decades in the arenaof IT, use of Internet, use of IT, thebirth of the small telephone and smallgadgets have made the whole worldfit into your pocket. He added that ageneral feeling had developed that
the print medium was not relevant, printedbooks were not important andconsequently libraries were alsomarginally important. But he said that hedid not agree with this notion.
Mr. Vohra said that libraries had to getmodernised and have to remain relevantand catch up with the modern times.
He said that the libraries had lost thepride of place in the past 70 years. Weneed to restore the status of librariesand have many more libraries, he felt.Most of our public libraries are decayingbecause of lack of resources. The issueof great concern in what has been inthe past seven decades is to raise thestatus of the library and libraryprofessionals.
Mr. Vohra said that the role of librariesand librarians had also to be lookedinto from the view of technologyapplications. The human resourcedevelopment needed to be doneadequately which could catch up andmatch the speedily advancing frontiersof knowledge.
The inaugural function was followed bytutorials. The first tutorial on‘Communication Skills for LISProfessionals’ was conducted byProf. Vijay Vancheswar, Professor,Communication and GeneralManagement, International Manage-ment Institute (IMI), New Delhi. Hediscussed the importance of goodcommunication skills for librarians andalso explained in detail what steps LIS
professionals should take to improvetheir communication skills. A specialtutorial was also conducted on ‘TotalQuality Person’ by Prof. (Dr) C VRamanan, Inspirational Speaker & LifeCoach, Director, Centre for Joy @Work, INMANTEC Group ofInstitutions, Ghaziabad. Both tutorialswere greatly appreciated by thedelegates. This year we introduced aspecial session on “PosterPresentations” which was conductedby Dr. Neela J. Deshpande, FormerProf. & Head, DLISc. & UniversityLibrarian, Savitribai Phule PuneUniversity, Pune & Consultant,DELNET Coordination Unit, Pune &Dr. S. D. Khan, Former Librarian, WaljatCollege of Applied Sciences, Muscat& Former Consultant, DELNETCoordination Unit, Hamirpur (HP). Thedelegates who had set up posters weregiven the forum to elucidate the mainconcepts of their posters. This wasfollowed by a visit to the posterpresentations area and to the exhibitionwhich were part of NACLIN 2017. Theday concluded with a cultural eveningand networking dinner in the FountainLawns of IIC.
On the second day, the first TechnicalSession was devoted to ‘DigitalTechnologies and Trends’. The sessionwas chaired by Dr. N. Vijayaditya,Former Director-General, NIC &Controller of Certifying Authority, MeitY.The first keynote paper was delivered on'Smart Cities and Big Data’ by Dr.A.R.D.Prasad, Professor and Head,
Documentation Research & TrainingCentre (DRTC), Bangalore. He gaveexamples of the relevance of big datain smart cities and what role LISprofessionals could play in this work.The second keynote paper wasdelivered on ‘Research DataManagement: Implications forInstitutes’ by Dr. Devika P. Madalli,Professor, Documentation Research& Training Centre (DRTC), Bangalore.She explained how the managementof research data in the institutes shouldbe done by LIS staff and be part of thenational initiates of research datamanagement as is done by ICSSR.The third keynote paper on ‘Librariesin the Cloud Environment’ wasdelivered by by Dr. P. K. Upadhayay,Technical Director & Cloud Coordinator(Library Division), National InformaticsCentre (NIC), MeitY, New Delhi. Hediscussed the cloud facility developedby NIC and hoped that libraries coulduse NIC cloud for managing theirlibrary data online.
The second technical session wasdevoted to ‘E-content Management’.The session was chaired by Dr. A.R.D.Prasad. The first keynote paper was
Dr. A. R. D. Prasad
Dr. Devika P. Madalli
delivered by Dr. H. K. Kaul on ‘DigitalCollection Strategies for Libraries’. Heexplained in detail the strategies thatlibraries should adopt for developingand archiving of the digital collections.The second keynote paper was on‘Digital and Physical PreservationManagement: Best Practices andStrategies’ by Mrs. Heather Brown,Assistant Director of Paper, Books
and Preventive, Artlab Australia,Adelaide. She explained the similaritiesbetween physical and digital preservationmethods and also explained howarchiving of digital data could be carriedout. The third keynote paper wasdelivered on ‘The French Project DELI :Towards a Digital Dictionary of SouthAsian Literatures’ by Dr. Nicolas Dejenne,Lecturer, Indian Studies, Sorbonne
University, Paris and Researcher,French Institute of Pondicherry. Heexplained how they were developingthe dictionary of South Asian literaturewith examples to elucidate the workbeing done. A paper on ‘Digital andTraditional Preservation ofManuscripts: Care and Restoration inRampur Raza Library, Rampur’ wasdelivered by Mr. Zubair Mahmood,Professional Assistant, Dr. ZakirHusain Library, Jamia Millia Islamia,New Delhi and Research Scholar, ShriVenkateshwara University, Gajraula,Amroha, Uttar Pradesh. He explainedwith illustrations how preservation workwas carried out at Rampur RazaLibrary. A paper on ‘Awareness andUse of e-PG Pathshala OpenCourseware by PG Students ofMizoram University: A Survey’ waspresented by Dr. Manoj Kumar Verma,Assistant Professor, MizoramUniversity, Mizoram. The paper wasco-authored with Ms. Krishna Brahma,Research Scholar, Mizoram University,Mizoram. It was followed by productpresentations by Accucoms andElsevier.
A special talk on ‘A Digital Universe ofInfinite Possibilities for Libraries’ the
theme topic of the national conventionwas delivered by by Dr. Roshan LalRaina, Vice Chancellor, JK LakshmipatUniversity, Jaipur. He gave examplesof how digital content could be used bylibraries working in different disciplines.Dr. S.S. Murthy, Former Director,DESIDOC & Consultant, DELNETCoordination Unit, Hyderabad presidedover the lecture.
The third technical session wasdevoted to ‘Innovative Library Servicesfor Users’. The session was chaired byDr. Roshan Lal Raina. The first keynotepaper in this session on ‘Re-engineering Library and InformationServices Conforming to ContemporaryInformation Landscape : Challengesand Opportunities’ was deliveredby Prof. I.V. Malhan, Head, DLISc &Dean, SoMC&IS, Incharge, Library,Central University of HimachalPradesh, Dharamshala. Prof. Malhanasked LIS professionals to modernisetheir libraries quickly so that they donot miss the opportunity in developinga digital library. He gave ampleexamples to elucidate his arguments.The second keynote paper on‘Expanding Horizons of Libraries : NewOpportunities’ was delivered by Dr.
Vivek Patkar, Independent Researcher& Former Professor, QuantitativeMethods & Operations Management,ICFAI Business School, Mumbai. He feltthat the present-day libraries needed toget modernised as in future there wasgoing to be a digital revolution in whichlibraries needed to adopt technologies tocollect data, process it and serve it tousers. The third keynote paper on‘Innovations in French Libraries’ was
delivered by Ms. Héloïse Courty,Independent Trainer & LibraryConsultant, Paris, Fance. She gaveexamples of how library spaces couldbe re-planned to include new servicesfor users besides maintaining theexisting ones. A keynote paper on‘Library Services for Differently AbledUsers’ was delivered by Dr. RameshC. Gaur, University Librarian,Jawaharlal Nehru University, NewDelhi. He focussed on how JNU Librarywas offering services to the differently-abled using new technologies. Thepaper on ‘Collections Development andServices of Special Libraries in Aizawl:A Survey’ was presented by Dr.Lalngaizuali, Assistant Professor,DLISc Mizoram University, Mizoramand Ms. Lallawmawmi, ResearchScholar, DLISc Mizoram University,Mizoram.
The fourth technical session wasdevoted to the ‘Management of PublicLibraries’. The session was chaired byProf. P.B. Mangla, Tagore NationalFellow, Government of India, Ministryof Culture with Co-Chair Dr. B.Shadrach, Founding Chair IPLM, andChair INELI-South Asia and AsiaCoordinator, A4AI, US. The first
keynote paper in this session on ‘PublicLibraries as Learning Spaces and LocalGateways to Digital Universe of InfinitePossibilities’ was delivered by Dr.Jagtar Singh, Professor InchargeLibrary, Punjabi University, Patiala. Dr.Jagtar Singh described the conditionof public libraries in India which is notvery promising and described in detailhow digital services through publiclibraries could help in transformationof the society. The second keynotepaper on ‘Digital Reference Servicesin Public Libraries’ was delivered byMrs. Neeti Saxena, Head, Library &Information Services, North India,British Council Library, British HighCommission, New Delhi. She gaveelaborate examples of the types ofdigital reference services that couldbe undertaken by public libraries. Shealso explained how digital referenceservice was being given in UK in publicLibraries. The third keynote paper on‘How to Increase Readership in theLibraries: Best Practices’ was deliveredby Ms. Geeta Malhotra, CountryDirector, Read India, Gurgaon. Sheexplained how Read India was
spreading reading habits in libraries andhoped that these systems were replicablein other public libraries as well. The fourthpaper on ‘Users’ Study and Expectationsin Labony Granthagar (Public Library) :A Case Study’ was delivered by Dr.Lopita Mukherjee, Librarian, St. John’sDiocesan Girls’ Higher SecondarySchool, Kolkata, West Bengal and Ms.
Sabita Kundu, Librarian, Techno India-Batanagar, Kolkata, West Bengal. Amusical evening was organised in theevening which elated the mood of thedelegates.
On the third and concluding day thefifth technical session was helddevoted to ‘Social Media Application inLibraries’. Dr. P. R. Goswami, Librarian& Head (KN), Indira Gandhi NationalCentre for the Arts, New Delhi presidedover the session. Dr. Debal C Kar,Librarian, Ambedkar University, Delhiwas the co-chair. The first keynotepaper on ‘Library Services and SocialMedia : The East West UniversityLibrary Experience' was delivered byDr. Dilara Begum, Associate Professorand Chairperson, Department ofInformation Studies and Librarian(Acting), East West University, Dhaka,Bangladesh. She explained how theEast West University Library wascommunicating with the students andfaculty using the social media. Shenoted that this use had amply improvedthe use of digital and other resourcesin the library and the students wereperforming well. The second keynotepaper on ‘Crowdsourcing andCrowdfunding : An Opportunity to
Libraries for Promotion and ResourceGeneration in Changing Scenairo’ wasdelivered by Dr. Nabi Hasan, UniversityLibrarian, Maulana Azad CentralLibrary, Aligarh Muslim University,Aligarh. He felt that in this day of growingdigital resources and respectivetechnologies it was becoming essentialto use crowdsourcing and crowd-funding by libraries. The secondkeynote paper on ‘Embrace DigitalTransformation’ was delivered byDr. Shantanu Ganguly, Fellow,Knowledge Management Division,TERI, New Delhi. He gave examplesof important libraries in the world andthe technologies they were using andbeing benefited from as a result. Apaper on ‘A Study on the Use of SocialMedia Among Mizoram UniversityStudents Who Visit the Central Library’was delivered by Ms. B. Lalhlimpuii,Assistant Librarian, MizoramUniversity, Mizoram.
The sixth technical session on ‘HumanResource Management in Libraries’was chaired by Prof. C.R.Karisiddappa, Former Professor and
Chairman, Department of Library andInformation Science, KarnatakUniversity, Dharwad, Karnataka. The firstkeynote paper in this session on ‘QualityAssurance and Building ProfessionalCompetency in LIS Education andTraining : Issues and Concerns in theDigital Environment’ was delivered by
Dr. Pravakar Rath, Professor,Department of Library and InformationScience, Mizoram University, Aizawl,Mizoram. He noted how major changesneeded to be undertaken in LISeducation to adopt new technologiesand improve quality assurance in LISeducation. The second keynote paperon ‘Total Quality Management atBrahmos Knowledge Centre, NewDelhi (ISO Certified)’ was delivered byMrs. Surekha Kaul, Chief, Innovationand Strategic Analysis, BrahMosAerospace Private Limited, New Delhi.She explained that they adhered toISO specifications and maintainedexcellence in collecting and deliveringthe required information. A paper on‘Open Educational Resources (OER):Transforming the Learning Landscapein the Digital Environment’ wasdelivered by Mr. Amit Kumar, AssistantProfessor, DLISc, Mizoram University,Mizoram. The paper on ‘Media andInformation Literacy (MIL) Educationand Training for LIS Professionals inthe Digital Era’ was delivered by Dr.Navkiran Kaur, Assistant Professor,DLISc, Punjabi University, Patiala. Shedescribed why media and informationliteracy should be part of the coursecurriculum of LIS students.
Dr. Nabi Hasan
Dr. P. R. Goswami
The seventh technical sessioin wasdevoted to ‘Open Access Resourcesand User Studies’. Dr. S. Majumdar,Chief Librarian, India InternationalCentre, New Delhi presided over thesession. Dr. P. K. Jain, Librarian,Institute of Economic Growth, Delhiwas the co-chair. The first paper on ‘AComparative Study of InformationResources in Central UniversityLibraries in Delhi’ was delivered byDr. Ajit Kumar, Library and InformationOfficer, Nehru Memorial Museum andLibrary, New Delhi. He identified thegaps in the information resources inthese libraries and described thecollection development patterns inthese libraries. The second paper on‘Library Use Patterns by FacultyMembers: A Case Study’ waspresented by Dr. H.P. Shekar, ChiefLibrarian, The Oxford EducationalInstitutions, Bangalore, Karnataka andMs. Nirmala Chigateri, AssociateLibrarian, J.S.S. Banashankari Arts,Commerce & S. K. Gubbi ScienceCollege, Dharwad, Karnataka. Thedelegates were later shown theDELNET Silver Jubilee Documentary.
A panel discussion was organised on
‘A Digital Universe of Infinite Possibilitiesfor Libraries’, the main theme of thenational convention on November 30,2017. The panel was moderated by Dr.H. K. Kaul, Director, DELNET. Thepanelists included Mrs. KalpanaDasgupta, Former Librarian, NationalLibrary, Kolkata; Prof. C. R. Karisiddappa;Dr. D. V. Singh, University Librarian,University of Delhi, Delhi; Ms. HéloïseCourty; Dr. Usha Mujoo Munshi,Librarian, Indian Institute of PublicAdministration, Delhi; Dr. Jagtar Singh,Professor Incharge Library, PunjabiUniversity, Patiala; Dr. B. Shadrach,Founding Chair IPLM; Dr. Dilara Begum,Associate Professor and Chairperson,Department of Information Studies &Librarian (Acting), East West University,Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Dr. A. R. D.Prasad, Professor and Head,Documentation Research & TrainingCentre (DRTC), Bangalore.
Dr. Kaul in his introduction said that adigital universe of infinite possibilities forlibraries was emerging and it comprisedthe following:
i. The digital universe of the growingideas and needs of every individualon this earth.
ii. The digital universe of growinginformation and knowledgeresources.
iii. The growing digital technologiesto manage the digital universesto make it a unified digitaluniverse.
He said that there was the need tomanage these digital universes forgrowth and development, research, etcand to offer necessary and sufficientinformation to every individual. Keepingin view the above factors he said thatwe needed to discuss how digitaltechnology could be used to serve theneeds of users, create smartknowledge, offer reference service toevery individual and packageinformation user by user; managemanpower to offer these services andmanage efficient preservation andarchiving of digital content. In responseto this introduction the panel made thefollowing suggestions:
1. National Digital Library Policyshould be drafted by thegovernment.
2. Parallel digital infrastructure bedeveloped for youngsters in publiclibraries.
3. There is an urgent need to developquality human resource forlibraries.
4. Digital reference service beprovided to the public.
5. Train people to be able to accessdigital content.
6. Content analysis is essential andshould be done by librarians inspecialised areas.
7. Surveys should be done to findinformation behaviours of people.
8. Media and information literacyacross the frontiers be developed.
9. Change the mindset ofprofessionals working in libraries.They should learn to unlearn andrelearn.
10. Specialised professionals shouldbe associated with training of
students in Library and InformationScience Departments inUniversities.
11. Libraries should become laboratoriesfor Library and Information Sciencestudents.
12. The upkeep and relevant use oftechnology be promoted in libraries.
13. Continuous professional develop-ment courses be introduced.
14. Librarians should be trained incurating digital content.
15. International collaboration beintroduced for use of technology anddisseminating quality content tolibraries and their users.
16. Use of technology for offeringbetter service should be intensified.
17. Metadata on every aspect ofknowledge be developed usingglobal standards.
18. Resource sharing among libraries
through DELNET be furtherexpanded.
19. Librarians should offer qualityinformation not only to the generallibrary users but also to specialistswho are doing research or writingassignments.
20. Content should be developed invarious Indian languages inlibraries; and
21. Efforts should be made to let moreand more libraries of all typesbenefit from vast resources andexpertise available throughDELNET.
At the valedictory function theOrganising Secretary and theRapporteur-General Dr. SangeetaKaul, presented the summary of thedeliberations made during the lastthree days at NACLIN 2017. Thespecial invitee Dr. Nicolas Idier,Attaché for Books and Ideas, FrenchInstitute in India, Embassy of Francespoke on the occasion and discussedthe type of programmes beingorganised under the Bonjor Indiafestival. The valedictory address wasgiven by the Chief Guest Prof. LokeshChandra, former President, IndianCouncil of Cultural Relations, NewDelhi and Director, InternationalAcademy of Indian Culture, New Delhi.He stressed the importance of orientallibraries and how these libraries neededto be modernised and managed well.Dr. H. K. Kaul, Director, DELNET, NewDelhi gave the concluding remarks.The vote of thanks was given by Dr.Sangeeta Kaul, the OrganisingSecretary.
NACLIN 2017 was supported byorganisations including RRRLFKolkata, ICMR, INSA, French Institutein India (Embassy of France), BalaniInfotech Pvt. Ltd., IGroup Infotech(India) Pvt Ltd, Gale Cengage LearningIndia Pvt Ltd. and Elsevier.
The DELNET Silver Jubilee Lecturewas delivered by Dr Neeta Verma,Director-General, National InformaticsCentre, Ministry of Electronics andInformation Technology on June 30,2017 at DELNET on the theme ‘Role ofLibraries in Digital India’. Prof. M.Jagadesh Kumar, Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor, JNU presided over thelecture. He released the Silver Jubileedocumentary on DELNET which wasproduced by Dr. Lavleen Thadani,followed by the release of the SilverJubilee publication entitled ‘DELNET :The Milestones in Sharing Knowledge’by Dr. Neeta Verma. In his inauguraladdress, Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumarappreciated the role being played byDELNET in disseminating informationto the scholarly community in thecountry. He said that libraries need topromote academic excellence. Heobserved that as academic institutionsare ranked similarly the ranking oflibraries should also be done. Thiswould definitely bring competitivenessamong the libraries and promote bestlibrary practices. He noted that librarieshave to take new roles to offer betterservices in new innovative ways to
Release of DELNET Silver Jubilee Documentary
their users. Dr. Verma began her lecturewith the quote from Shri Narendra Modi,the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India: ‘Inthis digital age, we have an opportunityto transform lives of people in ways thatwas hard to imagine just a couple ofdecades ago.’ She said that the vision ofDigital India, a programme to transformIndia into a digitally empowered societyand knowledge economy is centred on
three key vision areas: (1) DigitalInfrastructure as a utility to every citizen;(2) Digital Empowerment of citizens;(3) Governance and services ondemand.
She described Digital India as theflagship programme of the Governmentof India. It ensures that governmentservices are made available to citizenselectronically by improved onlineinfrastructure and by increasingInternet connectivity. She added that itwill transform our nation and createopportunities for all citizens byharnessing digital technologies, and itwill empower every citizen with accessto digital services, knowledge andinformation. She highlighted nine pillarsof Digital India which includesBroadband highways; Universalaccess to mobile connectivity; PublicInternet access programme; e-Governance: Reforming governmentthrough technology; e-Kranti:Electronic delivery of services;Information for all; Electronicsmanufacturing; IT for jobs and Earlyharvest programmes. Speaking aboutthe use of smart phones, mobile phonesand Internet users in India, Dr. Vermaaffirmed that India has become thesecond largest market of smart phones
in India and from June 2014 to May2017 there has been a dramatic growthin smart phone users which has risenfrom 22 crore to 40 crore; mobile phoneusers from 90 crore to 108 crore andInternet users from 24.3 crore to 50crore. She said that Aadhar enrolments(Digital Identity) have increased from63 crore in 2014 to 114 crore upto May2017. She said that libraries could usea community’s portal to give accessto global information, knowledge,cultural and leisure resources. Sheaffirmed that through the resourcesand services, libraries could createopportunities for learning, supportliteracy and education, and help shapethe new ideas and perspectives thatare central to a creative and innovativesociety. She added that libraries heldvalued and trusted resources close topeople in different social settings. Dr.Verma observed that libraries playedan important role in education,especially in the dissemination ofknowledge to the public. Sheacknowledged the role being playedby public libraries and said that publiclibraries offered free access to all asdid libraries in most academicinstitutions. She referred to theinformation explosion in the presentday with particular reference to the
digital content in the form of E-books, E-journals, E-reports, etc. She referred tothe growth of broadband access in Indiabesides open access and open sourcecontent. She commented on how mobilepenetration in India could promote digitalliteracy and the use of social media andstressed that today’s world is a world ofinformation explosion with all types ofdata. She informed the audience thatglobally, five exa-bytes of data were being
Dr. (Mrs.) Neeta Verma
created every day from a multitude ofsources, within which Facebookprocessed 600+ terabytes of data daily;Twitter processed 12 terabyets of datadaily besides other social media tools.She said that libraries needed toprovide personalised services topeople and emphasised that librariescould benefit from cloud computing infour basic ways:
1. Eliminate redundancy acrossdistributed systems
2. Increase ability to collaborate
3. Reduce cost
4. Operate more efficiently andbecome “greener.”
She also referred to the use of E-Granthalaya library managementsoftware developed by NIC. She addedthat with the transition of librariestowards e-Libraries, many users wouldalso transit to online platforms asphysical infrastructure becomesavailable with the libraries. She saidthat libraries with proper infrastructurecould be leveraged as digital em-powerment labs for trainingand handholding for using digitalservices.
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Expanding Horizons of Libraries :New Opportunities*
Vivek Patkar**
The economy and society at largein the 21st century is expected to bedominated by two things, namelyservices and information that would bepiloted by advances in information andcommunication technology like theInternet of Things (IoT). In this light it issurmised that the horizons of the librarywill continue to expand becausedelivering services and dealing withinformation have always been the coreactivities of the library. In parallel, anew subject discipline called the“Service Science” has arisen to furtherthe service sector through newconcepts and models. Those can alsobe gainfully used by the library toenhance its utility. Another importantdevelopment is the addition of the digitalspace for the library to project its newservices to address the demands ofthe future generations. This paper isdevoted to the discussion regardingopportunities arising for the library to
play a commendable role in theforthcoming high-tech milieu by designingnew services and managing the physicaland digital spaces efficiently. A numberof actions like adopting open servicedesign, producing a T-shaped libraryand information science professionalsand conducting transformative serviceresearch are outlined to take advantageof these openings.
1 Introduction
Thanks to the rapid developments inthe digitally operative information andcommunication technology (ICT) in thelast few decades, all the facets of theinformation sector have undergone deep-seated changes. That is, generation,search, acquisition, processing,dissemination and preservation ofinformation in the digital form dominatesthe scene and more and more informationis now produced and handled in thedigital form alone. The library, which all
along had played a pivotal role in theprint-based information managementoperations, is thus finding it necessaryto assimilate this new disruptive changeto remain relevant. Being a resiliententity, it is trying to cope with this stormand re-charting its role in the ‘digital’environment. The rise of the electroniclibrary, virtual library, digital library andhybrid library is undoubtedly themanifestation of this effort.
It is however notable that the newICT products are accelerating theservice sector of the economy and theservice sector has globally surpassedthe agriculture and industrial sectors interms of value addition and wealthcreation. This, in one sense, is viewedas a boon to the library because it isbasically a service providingorganisation. It is imperative that if apragmatic approach is employed toadopt and implement suitable ICT-driven processes the library can sustainand enhance its standing in societalaffairs with renewed vigour. In thisbackground huge opportunities areseen for the library if it can make adifference as we enter the parityeconomy era, where most of theinformation services can be seen asequal.
Changes in the library functioningcan be shaped by many forces inpractice. For instance, the library’sfuture collection development canhappen by demand-driven acquisition(DDA) of the material as per the users’exigency (Carr 2014), or by print-ondemand model. Expanding horizonsof the library can therefore be perceivedfrom various angles as shown by asample of dimensions in Figure 1. Thisis in line with the Fifth Law of LibraryScience that had originally projectedever increasing books, physicalinfrastructure, staff and readers in thelibrary (Ranganathan 1931). Anothersignificant effort in this direction is theinitiative by the American LibraryAssociation (ALA) to form a ‘Centre for
Dr. V. N. Patkar
* Invited paper presented at NACLIN 2017
** Independent Researcher, Mumbai and former Professor, ICFAI Business School, Mumbai
the Future of Libraries’ in 2013precisely with the idea of assessingthe wide-ranging trends that couldcollectively impact the library sector(www.ala.org/libraryofthefuture).
In this paper however only twodimensions across all types of librariesare considered. One is the service andthe other is the space. Advancementof the library services will keep pacewith the changing demands of the userswho will arrive on the scene withdifferent perspectives and skills. Forexample, they will arrive with new kindsof media literacy and should be servedwith the matching library services andoptions. In that situation evolvingtechnological developments will alsoplay a crucial role in sculpting the roleand performance of the library in itsgiven sphere of clientele and mandate.
Presence and enlargement of thelibrary in the digital space through socialmedia and other such networks apartfrom that in the physical space wouldbe another major dimension of thelibrary growth in future. Though,perhaps physical space for the librarymay not increase much in general andthe existing one may get repurposed,the expansion of the library in the digitalspace through external sites andservices has no bounds (Connawayand Faniel 2014).
It is clear that innovations will makea significant impact on quality,
productivity and viability of the libraryservices. A new ethos for servicedesign incorporating strategies likecollaboration, co-creation and delegationcan play a crucial role in this regard.Suitable mechanisms for providing hightech and high touch service will beindispensable. Open services innovationis one framework, which is assumingpopularity and needs attention by thelibrary and information science (LIS)sector in order to involve the users incrafting the services jointly so that theirinterest in the library is retained and theycontribute to the library expansion(Chesbrough 2011). A number ofavenues for introducing novel servicesand models for developing smart librariesand inspired LIS professionals to addressthese issues are available, for instance(Patkar 2014, 2016).
With this objective the evolution ofthe service sector is presented with thehelp of a few models in Section 2 of thepaper. It also highlights the importantaspect of sustainability of the libraryservice. Development of the library as aservice system and how “ServiceScience” that has newly emerged canhelp in this regard are discussed inSections 3 and 4, respectively. Section 5is devoted to the upcoming powerfultechnology, namely, the Internet ofThings (IoT) with possible applications inthe library. In Section 6 the digital andphysical space management by thelibrary is discussed in detail. Reorganisingthe library structure to address theforthcoming challenges in the frameworkof ‘new institutionalism’ is outlined inSection 7. The next two Sections suggestvarious actions by the library to harvestthe arising new opportunities.
2 Services Evolution
The service sector in general hasevolved extensively over the last fewdecades. Several models havecharacterised that development. A briefreview of them is made here. It can guidethe future library services becauseproviding relevant documents and access
to information both in the print anddigital form constitute the core serviceof the library. The sustainability ofinformation service is another majoraspect that is also addressed.
2.1 The IHIP Service Model
Since the service sector hasbecome the major contributor to theeconomy of most countries a numberof definitions or descriptions about theconcept of service have arisen in thefields like banking and finance,marketing, tourism, health andinformation technology. It is ony naturalthat a slight variation exists in detailingthe service considering the specificfeatures of the field underconsideration. In short, services areapplication of skills, knowledge andtechnology for mutual benefit amongthe involved stakeholders.
A service can be ascribedaccording to its main attributes. Forexample, the following IHIP scheme issuggested to describe the activitiesinvolved in service provision (Lovelockand Gummesson 2004):
I : Intangible (i.e. a transactionincapable of being perceivedlike physical good exchange,which is experienced by actualtouch).
H : Heterogeneous (i.e. atransaction is unique everytime even with the same userand varies with the user type).
I : Inseparability (i.e. user andprovider are simultaneouslypresent to complete thetransaction).
P : Perishable (i.e. producedservice cannot be stored andis lost if not used and on theother hand, if the availablecapacity is not used now it willnot be available in future).
However, due to advances in the
Fig. 1: Dimensions for LibraryExpansion
feature article
ICT some of the IHIP service modelattributes stated above no longer holdtrue. For instance, the library WebOPAC can be searched by the userfrom any place and time andindependent of dealing with the librarystaff in person. A client-basedrelationship that is, the contact factor,which is traditionally considered to beof great significance in promoting theservice patronage is also losing itsimportance. The ICT-based servicetransactions have ushered a newdelivery and consumption pattern.
That is why a different ‘customer-supplier service’ or ‘Uniform ServicesTheory’ model is proposed. Here theinvolvement of users in productionprocesses by giving inputs to thesupplier is shown to be more suitablein practice (Sampson, 2001, 2007).
2.2 Service-Dominant LogicModel
In the light of the techno-economicchanges the concept of service-dominant logic is now used to view theservice. To maintain and increase well-being and viability, the user andprovider involved in the service areinterdependent and both can benefitby service exchange is its basicpremise. The service-dominant logicis founded on the following three ideas(Vargo and Lusch 2004; Lusch andVargo 2014):
1. The user is the co-producerof the value of the servicetransaction.
2. A long-term relationship withthe user is helpful incustomising the service withvalue addition.
3. The user determines thequality maintenance of aservice and designing newservices.
The ICT, particularly the socialmedia platform plays a major role in
this changed scenario. Under the service-dominant logic view the library has tomonitor the comments and suggestionsabout its services expressed on varioussocial media platforms, and planrefurbishing its services periodically. Itcan also make use of the media toannounce its new services apart fromseeking ideas for upgrading the existingones. The massive digital-networkedforum is driving such a service monitoringprocess.
This model is still evolving and theLIS professionals can contribute to it.
2.3 Self-Service Model
The concept of self-service is at leastone hundred years old. Self-servicegrocery shopping started in 1916 in astore named Piggly-Wiggly in Memphis,Tennessee, USA. Self-service cafeteriais another old example. As theelectronics-based technology in generaladvanced during the 1970s, the idea ofemergence of a ‘self-service’ societygained popularity. It was, for instance,envisaged that more efficient, cheap andreliable services would be the demandand the likely advances in automation,intelligent electronics, and computeri-sation will fuel the process of servicesdecentralisation and self-servicepromotion (Zeleny 1979).
This expectation has come true inquite a few sectors even in India as aresult of the multifaceted ICTdevelopments. A massive transformationin service delivery in travel, tourism andretail shopping to name a few sectorshas come about. Many self-servicetechnologies (SSTs) are supporting it.They can be telephone-based (forinquiry), Internet-driven (for explorationand transaction) or self-help type (fordistance learning). SSTs providechannels to users to produce a servicewithout direct involvement of any personfrom the supplier side.
learning and the global position system(GPS) are a few prominent SSTs. Theuser gets greater access and control,while the service provider can use itshuman and other resources so saved,to further developmental activitiesbesides the services maintenancetasks. Moreover, a quality measure-ment framework using the SSTQUALscale is developed to assess theperformance of SSTs by consideringthe parameters of functionality, security,design and customisation (Lin andHsieh 2011); (Considine and Cormican2016).
In line with this thinking manylibraries have installed technologicalcontrivances for activities like self-operated photocopying of the desiredlibrary documents and self-chargingand discharging of the library books bythe users. The library should expandthis approach to make its services moreattractive for the users and get involvedwith the library more often. For thatmatter some of the traditional librarypractices may have to be modified tosuit the capabilities of the user(Anderson 2006; Mossman 2006).Making a list of library services andactivities and periodically mapping themwith the emerging SSTs that can beeasily operated by the users and staffwould be helpful in this regard. Suitabletraining and orientation programmesare to be organised regularly to reducethe anxiety on the part of the users tohandle the SSTs provided by the library.
2.4 Super Service Model
In contrast to the self-service modelthe provider can be engaged by theuser to provide a service called superservice. In this case the service providerperforms certain activities that arenormally done by the user, like a chefcoming to the house to cook the dinneror an airline picking up the passengerfrom home. Cloud computing service isbasically designed in this fashion wherecomputing is delivered as a service
and not as a product. Various modelsare available in this setting.
Compiling a bibliography for a giventopic is a traditional library service,whereas, formatting it for the specifiedend-document for the user is a superservice, for example, in the libraryenvironment.
The evolution of the service asshown in Fig. 2 holds quite well for thelibrary and information sector ingeneral.
Fig. 2 : Shift in the Service Delivery
2.5 Service Sustainability
The importance of sustaining aservice should not be undervalued. Itis proposed that a sustainable servicehas two values. One is the core valueand the other is the super value(Wolfson et al. 2012). These arecreated jointly by the user and providerin the process. It can be viewed as acombination of self-service and superservice in general. The offering of freeplugging facility and power supply orwi-fi connectivity by the library canencourage the users to bring in theirown digital devices and thereby thepressure on the corresponding libraryresources is reduced illustrates thisidea in the library context.
In fact, sustainability as a serviceis the emerging paradigm (Wolfson etal. 2010). The focus moves from theeconomic consideration to theenvironmental and social benefits. Thisis in line with the general sustainabilityperspective where the whole processis expected to be viable holistically andnot alone in its economic aspect. For
the LIS sector offering sustainableinformation infrastructure and servicesto all types of users is of prime importance.A practice like pricing out certain sectionsof the users should therefore be curbedis one important implication in this regard(Nathan 2012). Moreover, the ease intechnical access, environmental-friendlyprocesses and preservation of digitalinformation for a fairly long term will needcareful consideration. The concept ofthe green library is also incorporated inthis thinking.
With reference to the digitalinformation-based services, fresh issueslike digital assets management and digitalheritage conservation would be of a vitalnature for sustaining the scholarship infuture in many subjects. Expressly, theeconomic, environmental and socialaspects of information sustainability areto be examined and addressedadequately (Chowdhary 2013, 2014).Each library has to plan and evaluate itsservices from this viewpoint.
3 The Library as a ServiceSystem
A service system is basically acombination of people, technology,information and organisation. It is viewedas a dynamic configuration that deliversvalue to the user in different sectors likeeducation, research, business andgovernment (IfM and IBM 2008). Aservice system is divided into three broadcategories: i) Meeting basic needs forsurvival, ii) Promoting developmentalactivities, and iii) Organising efficientgovernance. Who are the users and whatdo they think and need, what kind oftechnology and infra- and super-structureis suitable, what genre of informationwould address the users’ needs andwhat is the best way to organise thesecomponents to deliver the serviceoptimally are the questions deliberatedfor a service system design in practice.With globalisation and ICT proliferationthe choices for each of these elementsare undoubtedly constantly evolving.
So, for the library a typical service
system can be framed incorporatingthe aspects given below:
Ø Number and type of users(judged say by their literacylevel)
Ø Kind of hardware and softwareinfrastructure (affordable andeasy to use)
Ø Form of information (pertinentproduction mode and deliveryfacilitation format)
Ø Space and staff grouping(physical or digital space andsuitable human resourceallocation)
Ø Risks involved (likely violationof the copyright law orinformation wastage)
Ø Safeguards (like ‘view only’access)
Ø Value addition (like ‘also see’type additional resourcesguidance)
This concept is now extended towhat is called holistic service systemswhere completeness, independenceand specified duration of the servicefor the identified group of users areensured. Libraries can plan theiroperations on these guidelines. It goesfar beyond normal services emanatingfrom information management(Grandbois 2016). A landmark studyof one public library service systemdesign in Canada illustrates theimportance and richness of thisapproach (Bouthillier 2000). The studydescribes how the promotion of libraryservices is closely linked to the culture,history and social development in thesurroundings in which the library islocated.
In this direction a new approachcalled ‘apomediation’ for extending thelibrary services to the user is alsosuggested (Kwanya et al. 2015). Here,providing the information and its variedexperiences to the users in a subtleway is the key. As a strategy,apomediation stands between the
extremes of the intermediation (i.e.positioning between the user andresource) and disintermediation (i.e.standing detached from the user). Itmeans standing by the user andsupplying the filtered information orthe relevant sources without the userseeking them explicitly. To getinformation validated by the expertsbefore passing onto the users can bea useful extension to this service.
4 Service Science Approach
Historically, most of thedevelopments in natural science andassociated technologies took place tounderstand the natural sources likemetal ores, water and gases anddevelop processes to harness themoptimally. The aim was to produce avariety of goods for consumption byan individual or industry. Since thismanufacturing dominant economy islargely replaced by the serviceseconomy, the establishment of“Service Science” has happened quiterecently that is, in 2004. It envisages amulti-disciplinary approach to studyvarious components of a given service.
Undoubtedly this development isof great significance for the LIS sector,which is primarily devoted to theservices provision. For the library,information is the basic resource todeal with. It is therefore important todraw upon the advances in the servicescience to adopt for the library andinformation services organisation andbreak new grounds. For instance, theissues to be explored by the librarycould be:
§ How to save time ininformation search anddelivery?
§ How to use data mining, textmining and Web miningtechniques and technology toacquire better and deeperknowledge?
§ How to design and use service-oriented architecture (SOA),social media as a service(SMAAS) and Web-enabledservices to enhance value-addition to the user?
§ How to measure perceptionabout the library and its servicesas expressed by the users saythrough social media?
§ How to create and maintain aservice culture both in offeringservices outside and inside thelibrary premises by promotinglearning, mentoring anddeveloping focused teams?
§ How to design service thatresponds to emotional needsand enhances serviceexperience to the user?
§ How to measure the value ofservice and service productivitymore truthfully by developingsuitable metrics?
Attention is drawn here to a recentIndian study using this approach (Dateand Mallik 2017). It dovetails howsystematic development of team building,training and promoting embeddedlibrarianship within the parent corporateorganisation have contributed to theconversion of information into intelligenceon a regular basis. This is supporting thediverse business segments of thecompany quite gainfully. As a result theconventional library is transformed intothe ‘information resource centre’ (IRC) inthe true sense and it is valued and wellsupported by the management.
Similar efforts are necessary by theother types of libraries to implementrelevant services and practices. That isthe way to sustain in the new era.
Since service science combinesseveral disciplines it needed a newacademic home. To that enddevelopment of information school or
iSchool has taken place in a fewquarters. The traditional LISdepartments should take a closer lookat some of the existing iSchools to drawupon the in-depth study of theinteraction between information,technology and people pursued in theircurricula. Service science is expectedto benefit and advance by the studiesand researches by iSchools (Lyons2010). One should not overlook thefact that the library has been studiedfrom some of the service sciencetechniques for a long time, especiallysince the seminal study of the MITLibrary undertaken by Philip Morse(Morse 1968). More studies of that typeare essential with regard to Indianlibraries.
5 The Internet of Things (IoT)Implications
The next ICT advance round thecorner is called the “Internet of Things”(IoT) or “Responsive Technology”. It isbasically a seamless combination ofembedded intelligence, ubiquitousconnectivity and deep analyticalinsights that creates unique value fororganisations, individuals, andsocieties. The ability of tagging andtracking of objects by RFID liketechnologies, accurate sensing bysensors, miniaturisation of gadgets bynanotechnology applications anddevelopment of entities possessingcomputing power akin to thinking arethe major developments of the IoT thathave been reported. More advancedproducts would follow in due course inthe form of haptic devices.
IoT will bring about far-reachingchanges in the perception about thehuman and object relationship. Forexample, body area network (BAN)flows to provide an optimal personspecific hearing aid capability, new localarea network (NLAN) supplying asmart meter to monitor the use of allthe household or workplace utilitiesand very wide area network (VWAN)supporting consumption of most of the
services from any location areenvisaged (Srivastava 2011).
Taken to its roots, the IoT translateseverything into information systems.This naturally implies managing theinformation which has been the corebusiness of the LIS profession. At least,the library has to start thinking aboutthe IoT application avenues to upgradethe service experience to the user sayof a document or piece of information.Sending the description data by thelibrary for the desired object over theInternet to produce it physically usingthe 3-D printing technology can be onesuch service.
IoT implementation offers thefollowing major challenges:
1. Being a wireless sensorsnetwork (WSN) connectivity,basically an IoT is notsomething that is available offthe shelf but is to be createdand scaled according to thedemand and local situation.
2. Building an IoT applicationrequires the selection andintegration of multiplecomponents like sensors,communication modules andnetworks.
3. Turning the collected data intosomething useful involvescloud computing, analytics,integration with core systemsand process changes.
The third point in the list aboveneeds careful attention because asmore and more persons and activitiesare linked through the IoT system apartfrom the rising social media, the volumeof data that will be generated is mindboggling. “Big Data” analysis that goesby the term “Analytics” will assumeprime importance in this milieu. Itspredictive and prescriptive powers offerimmense potential to improve anddesign services in any field.
In the library, for example, it can beapplied to inventory management tasksthat usually involves extensive manualwork. An IoT solution can automate thisprocess through intelligent bookshelflayouts and a layered applicationframework. It is also envisaged that thelibrary shelves can be made responsiveto users’ preferences and circulationhistory to promote relevant content tothem in real-time(http://acrl.ala.org/techconnect/?p=474). Furthermore, thelibrary can keep track of the number ofvisits to different parts of the library duringspecific time periods; items consulted bythe users by such technology embeddedmonitoring systems. Several strategicdecisions about the library spaceallocation and revising the rules to helpperforming more creative operations canbe helped by analysing the digital footprintdata so collected.
6 Space Dimension
6.1 Space ContinuumImplications
The other dimension of the libraryexpansion is in the space. Traditionally,making the best use of the availablephysical space to present an ambientenvironment to the users and visitorsand the front and back office staff wasthe focus. Now, in addition, it involvescompetent handling of the digital or virtualspace. That means the library has to beactively present in such a space whosecreation is propelled by the ICT headwaysleading to social media and alliedplatforms. Such digitally created spaceis bound to magnify and diversify in future.
In fact, as shown in Fig. 3, a spacecontinuum has emerged with differentcombinations of physical and digitalspaces (Milgram et al. 1994).
Here the territory between theextremes of real and virtualenvironment is called mixed reality. Ithas two major elements, namelyaugmented reality (AR) where virtualsupplements the real and augmentedvirtuality (AV) where real supplementsvirtual. This shows how thecommunication, presentation andactions are happening with the help ofadvances in the ICTs. Augmentedreality in particular offers an experiencewhere the users are aware of computergraphics as a medium. Virtual reality,which is a part of cyberspace, is acomputer simulation of the real orimaginary system by which users canperform operations in virtual spacesand obtain or experience effects in realworld.
Intensive study of virtual realityhas led to the following rules of virtuality(Woogler 2002):
1) The impact of media andtechnology on people dependson their demographic andsocio-economic status.
2) Risks and fears in respect ofnew media and technology arenot evenly distributed socially.
3) Advancements in media andtechnology extend rather thansupersede existing activitiesin reality.
4) The more virtual, the more realit becomes.
5) New media and technologylead to the tendency of creatingnew kinds of localism ratherthan furthering globalisation.
All these developments implyadoption of different strategies by thelibrary for designing and monitoring itsdigital technology-based services. Afew successful strategies are availableto engage the library users throughsocial media (Ramsey 2014). There isa shift from the physical user or visitorto the remote user of the serviceswithout ever visiting the libraryphysically. He or she would like tohave hyper-mediated experience ofthe library document or a specificinformation query session with thelibrary staff through augmented realitydevices and systems. A holographicimage of such an entity would beprovided to the distant user in a realtime mode. This possibility was named“Telepresence” (Minsky 1980) and isnow within the realm of realisation. It isconsidered more effective than thevideo-conferencing because acomplete image of the remote real orvirtual entity is reproduced at the user’slocation that looks natural andtechnology intermediation is not felt.
It follows that the library will haveto design its digital spaces startingfrom the website to a higher augmentedreality spaces meticulously. Forinstance, creating virtual exhibition ofthe library collection like rare books,manuscripts, maps and other artefactsperiodically would be welcome. Toprovide a sense of direction, variablenavigation schemes and at the sametime to support the creativity on thepart of the user in accessing andinteracting with such information istherefore expected. Numeroustechnologies are available for suchpurposes and they are constantlyevolving. Fortunately, basic principlesto guide such a design process areavailable (Story 1998). They are: a)equitable use, b) simple to use, c)flexibility in use, d) effective in use, e)error tolerant, f) needing minimalphysical efforts, and g) manipulationby the user should be permitted.
However, the library will have to avoidthe so-called ‘P.T. Barnum’ effectwhereby showmanship dominates thescholarship (Beacham 2011). A properbalance would be necessary to maintainthe credibility of the library in all suchendeavours.
Attention is also drawn to the keyprinciples propounded by the LondonCharter for the computer-basedvisualisation of cultural heritage (http://www.londoncharter.org/). According tothem computer-based visualisationshould be used only when it is mostappropriate, the sources used for it shouldbe properly documented to clarify thecontext and strategies to preserve it forfuture access, use and understanding tobuild cultural heritage should be in place(Denard 2009).These principles areuseful for designing digital spaces andnavigation of knowledge by anyinstitution.
6.2 Reorganising the PhysicalSpace
‘Centralised Information Commons’means putting the reference desk andmaterials near the computer workstationsand thereby creating one central area forresearch and inquiry and ‘SocialGathering Centre’ means provision ofexclusive space for the interaction amongthe users and with the library staff can beconsidered as two guiding principles forreorganising the physical space of thelibrary. If a new design can assemble thephysical space, the social space and theinformation space together to enhancecollaborative learning and other activities,then the whole library perspective istransformed to serve various categoriesof users pointedly. Flexibility is the key inthis respect that is, to be able to reworkthe space suiting the demand withoutdisturbing the other users and libraryoperations. Installation of locationintelligent technologies can facilitate thenavigation within the library and help theusers.
Some public libraries have
redesigned or refurbished their interiorto create possible spaces for providingthe non-traditional services like runningcomputer training courses, advicecentres, careers guidance, drama andband practice rooms and homeworkcentres without compromising thesecurity and neutrality. People of allage groups prefer visiting them quiteoften because their varied needs areaddressed by such libraries and theysee them as cooperation-fosteringplaces. ‘Information Commons’or‘Learning Commons’ spaces, forexample, are provided in several schooland higher education libraries abroad.These collaborative spaces facilitateinformation consumers to interact withthe library and information scienceprofessionals directly.
The library space can be viewed asa hierarchy of four needs, namelyaccess, use, sociability and comfort. Aspace which combines attributes fromall these levels would be an ideallearning space. However, the librarywill have to ensure that different privacyand security levels are provided in itsphysical and even in digital space. Thelibrary space offering collaboration,creation and contemplation is the keyfor binding the users to the library.
A framework emphasising thefollowing design aspects isrecommended for organising andassessing physical space in librariesas well as their digital installations, E-branches, and website-basedinteractions (Norman 2004; McArthur2015):
§ Visceral (first impression aboutthe appearance or surroun-dings),
elegance in organising physical anddigital spaces is the message.
7 New InstitutionalismApproach
A study of an institution from asociological view called the ‘newinstitutionalism’ has gained currencyof late due to economic liberalisationand globalisation. According to itstheory since almost every institutionnow gets influenced by the otherinstitutions that are similar,complementary or remotely connected,it becomes necessary to assert itsstatus periodically. In essence theinstitution has to open itself to newworking methods and become amultifunctional forum. This underlinesthe need for the library to re-establish itslegitimacy within the world ofinstitutions that would be dealing withdifferent aspects of information. So thelibrary will have to self-examine its roleand functions in the framework of newinstitutionalism (Montmann 2009).
To that end the library will berequired to reflect and respond to theshifting techno-economic landscapeand wider information environment. Onthe one hand creating novel encountersof the information to the user and onthe other hand revising the librarygoverning rules and regulations andorganisational structure are thusexpected. For example, a user maywish to have ‘experiences’ like raftinga river or going into space rather thanissuing out books and that should besupported as far as possible by thelibrary. This is because to createmeaning for users by the library isimplied by the new institutionalism.
It is fancied that with the increasingpresence on the mobile phone, WebWorld and several social media we areextending ourselves throughout thevirtual space. In other words, we areliving in physical and virtual worlds atthe same time. We have become‘phyrtual’ (Kuksa and Childs 2014).
This development needs to be consideredby the library to redesign its operationsand services in line with newinstitutionalism.
An idea of an M-Library providingcustomised information services to theuser on his chosen mobile device pointsto new styling of the library operations(Ally and Needham 2013). Establishmentof a digital heritage archive will also be apart of the proposed library reshapingthe net under this approach.
8 Select Actions
8.1 A Service DevelopmentProgramme
It is clear that the library services willhave to innovate in the new knowledge-driven economy and intenselycompetitive service environment. In thatcontext a recent survey-based study inservice science identified 12 priority areasfor the research and training in general ispertinent (Ostrom et al. 2015). Amongstthem the following are considered morerelevant for library services:
1. Affecting service modernisation
2. Leveraging service design
3. Understanding value creation
4. Enhancing the serviceexperience
5. Drawing on technology toadvance services
Obviously, the above calls forcombining the research in two mainsectors, namely service design andinformation management to advance theLIS practices. It is high time that an openservice design with an open innovationprocess is implemented (Chesbrough2003). That means the user is involved indesigning the library service right fromthe beginning. Trials on this line by thelibraries in India to gain more insights arerecommended.
8.2 A New Profile for the LISProfessional
What is envisaged in the forthcoming
information and knowledge economyis “T-shaped” professionals. Suchprofessionals have a deep knowledgeand related skills in a single field that isrepresented by the vertical bar of thealphabet T, whereas the ability tocollaborate with experts across severaldisciplines and to apply knowledge inareas other than one’s own isrepresented by the horizontal bar ofthe T as shown in Fig. 4. In other words,T-shaped people have both depth andbreadth in their skills. They are alsoknown by terms such as Versatilist,Generalising Specialist, TechnicalCraftsperson, Renaissance Developerand Master Generalist.
In case of the LIS professional thevertical bar represents traditional skillsand the horizontal bar represents thecapacity to interact in the language ofa broader range of disciplines (Belland Shank 2007).
Currently most of the LIS educationand training institutions in India areproducing I-shaped graduates orpostgraduate students while the needwould be to have T-shapedprofessionals who are competent incommunication and collaboration withpeople from different disciplines too. Inparticular the ability to manageinformation from multiple sources,work in the inter-disciplinary internaland external teams, contribute toorganisational activities by innovativeideas, and communicate with all typesof users’ need for inculcation.
To develop suitable instructionalcourses and implement themcompetently to produce such T-shaped LIS professionals is a hugechallenge for the institutions engagedin the LIS education and training.
T-shaped information scientists isone more opening. In a globallyinterconnected and constantlychanging world driven by smartertechnologies, the new LISprofessionals will have to buildtheir careers by re-skilling and up-skilling.
8.3 Transformative ServiceResearch
As the name suggests, the idea isto transform the service from thecurrent level to address the new andbroader issues coming up in future inany sector. In particular, thetransformative service research (TSR)examines the social and ecologicalconsequences of the deliveredservices in the field that are in additionto the tangible direct benefits to theusers (Ostrom et al. 2010). A study ofconnection between service anddifferent aspects of well-being ofthe individual and community atlarge is its distinguishing feature(Kuppelwieser and Finsterwalder2016). Strategies emanating from theTSR covering the quality, productivityand delivery of the library services willtherefore be most effective.
In this framework issues likeincreased access to valuable sourcesand services, joint design of newservices and evaluating theexperiences of the services offeredare some of the topics that needinvestigation in the emerging Indianlibrary setting. Designing measures toreduce the stress caused by theinformation overload, for example, is afruitful area of research that falls underthe TSR. How to reduce the carbonand greenhouse gases (GHG)
emissions caused by the libraryoperations and users’ inefficientinformation handling style is anotheraspect worth investigating. Suitablelibrary training programmes can emergeby such studies.
9 Additional Recommendations
The following action points, notnecessarily in that order, are to beconsidered in addition:
a) To develop the art ofapomediation among the librarystaff to build a healthyrelationship with users.
b) To decide what part of the libraryoperations is to be consideredfor crowdsourcing (both non-paid and paid) instead ofconventional paid outsourcing.
c) To plan and provide facilities andservices for special users, thatis those with different abilities.
d) To evaluate the performance ofself-service avenues providedby the library through userfeedback and independentmonitoring.
e) To promote outreach contri-butions by the library staff, sayby encouraging them to bewriters for Wikipedia and amultitude of other social mediato increase the visibility of thelibrary collection and services.
f) To design and implementsustainable digital preservationstrategies and acquire andmanage the digital assets thatwould be vital for academics,polity and research in theforthcoming era.
g) To design strategies to userobots and IoT products in thelibrary for the optimal division ofthe work.
10 Conclusion
It is clear that humanity will face aninformation and knowledge burden ofenormous magnitude in the comingdecades. There will certainly be a risingdemand to sieve and manage it from allsections of the library users. That iswhy the library has an opportunity toexpand the boundaries of its operationsand services to match thoseexpectations. To undertake theseresponsibilities the concepts, modelsand technological tools from the servicescience offer a useful support is whatwe have seen above. It is thereforesuggested to explore the relationbetween the library and informationscience and service science to comeout with new designs for the libraryto help elevating its services anddelivery systems in the new digitalenvironment. Shaping the library as aservice system should get duedisciplined consideration.
Sight should not be lost of the factthat the capability of the technology tomanage the digitally born material likeefficiently indexing the full content willbe far greater than the humanprofessional. That means emergingsemantically based systems, say underthe Web 3.0 and its further versionswould be able to make the contentsearchable, analysable and functionalautomatically and thereby the coretraditional work of the LIS professionalis likely to be eroded (Weinberger2007).Under such circumstances inorder to increase the share in attentionthe library will have to intensify itsvisibility (e.g. disseminating informationwithin and outside the library by library’sTwitter account) and unique capabilitiesin serving both the online and physicalpatrons (e.g. assisting the userpersonally in formation of a propersearch query, a service which no searchengine provides).
In the forthcoming epoch handlingreal and virtual spaces and converting
them into creative domain by the libraryis also seen as a crucial task. Thelibrary can perform the act of leadingthe digital citizenship and therebysustain its importance.
It is submitted that broadening thehorizons of thinking supplemented byfresh insights can help an LISprofessional to seize the opportunitiesthat are forthcoming with the advancingtechnologies. All such actions arenecessary to promote the library as animportant institution and LIS as athriving profession. The emerging eraof the IoT and cognitive computing, forinstance, where the computer isembedded with more and moreprocessing power to perform the tasksof engagement, decisions anddiscovery of new things offers excitingpossibilities. That means humans andcomputers will jointly achieve thesolutions that neither can achievealone. This combined human-machineintelligence can be productivelyharnessed for raising the library servicesystem performance in the expansiveinformation field and support the cultureof lifelong learning that would be criticalin the new age.
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DELNET - The Milestones in SharingKnowledge: Celebrating its Silver Jubilee
1 The Beginnings
DELNET is a major ResourceSharing Library Network in South Asiaconnecting more than 6000 libraries. Itwas started on the recommendation ofa panel discussion organised at theIndia International Centre on January7, 1988. The Delhi Library Network(DELNET) was established to promotesharing of resources among thelibraries in Delhi by collecting, storingand disseminating information and byoffering computerised services tousers. DELNET began its functioningas a project at the India InternationalCentre Library with the initial supportfrom the National Information Systemfor Science and Technology (NISSAT),Ministry of Science and Technology,Government of India. In 1992, DELNETstarted receiving financial support fromthe National Informatics Centre, thenunder the Planning Commission,Government of India. DELNET wasregistered as a Society under theSocieties Registration Act of 1860 onJune 30, 1992. It began serving librariesand their users in Delhi with success.Soon demand grew for accessingDELNET resources from librariesoutside Delhi and outside India.
Libraries found DELNET’s resources andservices very useful. As the scope andcoverage of DELNET expanded, onpopular demand, on September 13, 2000its name was changed from Delhi LibraryNetwork (DELNET) to DELNET –Developing Library Network by theRegistrar of Societies.
The union catalogue resources ofDELNET began growing rapidly as didits membership. DELNET, with itsdetermination to serve many users andresearchers in and outside the countrythrough libraries, have been makingconcerted efforts to improve theinfrastructure and information facilities atDELNET. Perfecting its technologiesand upgrading them from time to time hasbeen done to serve a diverse range ofusers and their simple and complexdemands. In 2017, DELNET offers accessto more than two crore and fifty lakhcatalogue records of books, besidesanother half million records of periodicals,articles, theses and dissertations amongother resources including E-books andE-journals.
2 ObjectivesDELNET was initially registered as a
Society under the Societies RegistrationAct of 1860 as Delhi Library Network
DELNET cubicles at the far end in IIC Library, 1992-2005
(DELNET) with the following main aimsand objectives:
i. To promote sharing ofresources among the librariesin Delhi by developing anetwork of libraries, bycollecting, storing anddisseminating information andby offering computerisedservices to users.
ii. To undertake scientificresearch in the area ofinformation science andtechnology, create newsystems in the field, apply theresults of research and publishthem.
iii. To offer technical guidance tothe member libraries oncollecting, storing, sharing anddisseminating information.
iv. To coordinate efforts forsuitable collectiondevelopment and reduceunnecessary duplicationwherever possible.
v. To establish/facilitate theestablishment of referral and /or research centres, andmaintain a central online unioncatalogue of books, serials andnon-book materials of all theparticipating libraries.
vi. To facilitate and promotedelivery of documentsmanually or mechanically.
vii. To develop specialisedbibliographic databases ofbooks, serials and non-bookmaterials.
viii. To develop databases ofprojects, specialists andinstitutions.
ix. To possess and maintainelectronic and mechanicalequipment for speedycommunication of information
x. To coordinate with otherregional, national andinternational networks andlibraries for exchange ofinformation and document.
3 Building for DELNET
Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU)had allotted one acre of land to DELNETfor its building in its mini campus in1994. In 1997, we selected M/s. C. P.Kukreja and Co. who were also theofficial architects of JNU. In May 2001when we wrote to JNU and appraisedthem about our plans to construct thebuilding at the earliest and requestedthem to help our architects in putting upfence marks for identification and thedevelopment of the land for constructionpurposes, the University informedDirector, DELNET that JNU hadidentified another site on NelsonMandela Road for the construction ofthe building for DELNET. DELNETtook possession of one acre of land onthe new site identified by JNU onDecember 21, 2001. On December23, 2002 the foundation stone for thebuilding was laid by Hon’ble ShriJagmohan, Union Minister for Tourismand Culture, Government of India. Dr.Karan Singh, Hon’ble Chancellor,Jawaharlal Nehru University presidedover the ceremony. Among thespeakers at the function were Shri
N.N. Vohra, Director, India InternationalCentre, Shri Soli J. Sorabjee, President,India International Centre, the late Prof.M.G.K. Menon, Trustee, IIC; Dr. N.Vijayaditya, Director-General, NIC; Prof.G.K. Chadha, Vice-Chancellor,Jawaharlal Nehru University, amongothers.
Owing to limited funds available for theconstruction of the building, Mr. C.P.Kukreja, the architect agreed to tailor thework and construct the building in phasesand take his fee after sufficient fundsbecame available to DELNET. TheDepartment of Culture, Ministry ofTourism and Culture, Government ofIndia sanctioned Rs. one crore for theconstruction of the DELNET building.We are indeed grateful to the Departmentof Culture for the support for a verygenuine cause of offering information tostudents, teachers, researchers and thepublic. Our thanks are due to ShriJagmohan, the then Hon’ble UnionMinister for Tourism and Culture for hisvision and support. The architects M/sC.P. Kukreja & Co., under the directguidance of Mr. C.P. Kukreja preparedthe architectural plans and estimates forthe first two floors of the building. Mr.Rajesh Pandita of C. P. Kukreja & Co.supervised the construction work alongwith Shri K. D. Saddi, the former ChiefEngineer of JNU who after his retirementbegan advising us on construction-relatedissues on the building.
Work on the building started withthe construction of the road from NelsonMandela Marg to the site which wasrocky in nature. Tender notices wereissued and the builder was selected.While the plans were approved for fourfloors initially by DDA, we decided toconstruct two floors in each block, viz.the Administrative Block and the HostelBlock. The Administrative Block has aConference Room, Training Centre,Meeting Room, Electronic Library andRecording Room on the Ground Floor,while on the First Floor and other floorsspace for offices, Board Room, ServerRoom, etc. was planned. The HostelBlock included the facility for DiningHall/ Multipurpose Hall, Lounge,Committee Rooms, Store Rooms,Pantry, Kitchen, Director’s Flat, fifteendouble rooms, etc. The proposedcovered area on the Ground Floor isabout 960 sq. m. and about 870 sq. m.on the First Floor.
The Governing Board of DELNETexpressed their gratitude in 2005 to theBoard of Trustees, the President Mr.Soli J. Sorabjee and the Director Mr.N.N. Vohra for granting permission toDELNET to function from the IIC Libraryuntil October 6, 2005 when DELNETstaff shifted to its building on the JNUcampus on Nelson Mandela Road. IIC’ssupport has gone a long way to establishDELNET in its present form which isnow vibrant and holds promise for theusers of information in South Asia.
DELNET completed 25 years of itsexistence on June 30, 2017. The SilverJubilee Year celebrations commencedon June 30, 2017 and will continue uptoJune 30, 2018. On this importantoccasion, we are pleased to give youan overview of DELNET’S activities.
4 Finance
In the initial years, DELNETfunctioned in the project mode with theproject grant from National InformationSystems in Science and Technology(NISSAT), Ministry of Science and
Technology till 1996. We received aproject grant from the NationalInformatics Centre of the Ministry ofCommunications and InformationTechnology from 1992 to 2006. Theannual membership fee collected frommember-libraries has been the mainsource of financial support to DELNET.We are indeed grateful to the NationalInformatics Centre (NIC), Ministry ofCommunication and InformationTechnology, Government of India forthe technical and financial support itgave to DELNET periodically. We arethankful to Dr. Neeta Verma, Director-General, NIC and former Directors-General of NIC including Dr. N.Seshagiri, the founder Director-Generalof NIC, Dr. N. Vijayaditya and otherofficers of NIC including Mr. R.S. Manifor their support, guidance and helpfrom time to time.
5 The Government Recognitions
5.1 DELNET as a SIRO
The Council of Scientific andIndustrial Research (CSIR), Ministry ofScience and Technology, Governmentof India recognised DELNET in 1993as a Scientific and Industrial ResearchOrganisation (SIRO). This recognitionwas extended upto March 31, 2004.
5.2 The Working Group Report ofthe Planning Commission
The Working Group on Librariesand Informatics of the PlanningCommission for the Ninth Five YearPlan (1997-2002) recommended asfollows:
“Among the different city networks,it has been found that DELNET hasemerged as an operational librarynetwork in India with 60 libraries inDelhi and six states as its members.It has developed online UnionCatalogues of books and periodicals.It is recommended that DELNET besupported to create a NationalDatabase and develop on the OCLCpattern covering all subjects.”
5.3 Report of the National Knowledge Commission, 2007
The National Knowledge Commis-sion in its report entitled Libraries –Gateways to Knowledge published inFebruary 2007 recommended thatnetworking of public libraries should beundertaken in a phased manner. Out ofabout 54,000 public libraries existingin India, DELNET should networkabout half the public libraries in threephases. The implementation of therecommendations are yet to be approvedby the government.
6 Membership
6.1 Overview
Access to DELNET resources andservices are available at nominalmembership charges which are annual innature. Institutions/libraries that need touse it should become members ofDELNET. The membership of DELNETis based on a few important guidingprinciples:
i. An institution desiring to useDELNET resources and servicesshould have a library, howeversmall it may be.
ii. All institutional members ofDELNET, small or big pay thesame annual membership feebesides the same one-timeadmission fee.
iii. Each member-institution enjoysequal rights to access information
and use DELNET resourcesand services.
iv. Each library of a member-institution has to share itscatalogue information andlibrary resources with othermember-libraries of DELNET.And, for this purpose it has tosend its catalogue resourcesto DELNET for merging theminto its union catalogues, unionlists and other databases.
v. DELNET makes efforts to keepits annual membership fee aslow as possible in order to helpmore and more institutions tobenefit from its resources andservices. This is for informationthat DELNET did not increaseits membership and ILL feesince 1999, except it mergedILL and membership fee in2015. Thus the annualinstitutional membership feeof Rs. 11,500 per year andone-time registration fee ofRs. 5,000 has not beenincreased. The GST isapplicable since July 1, 2017.
6.2 Membership Growth
DELNET’s membership grewslowly and steadily after 1992 butsince 2011-2012 it increasedsubstantially. The following chartdescribes the yearly growth in itsmembership. It stands at 6045 onDecember 31, 2017.
The membership of DELNET isvery promising in nature as it coversdifferent types of libraries and diversesubjects the libraries specialise in. Italso has a uniform spread in differentparts of India. Institutions from eightforeign countries also use the DELNETservices.
6.4 Membership Benefits
The following are the benefits theinstitutions/libraries get after becomingmembers of DELNET:
i. Access to selected internationalfull-text journals in various fields,including the Arts, Science,Commerce, Education, SocialSciences, Management, En-gineering and Technology, Dentaland Medical Sciences.
ii. Access to more than two croreand sixty five lakh cataloguerecords of books, journals,articles, etc. with the facility toborrow books on Inter-libraryLoan and get copies of journalarticles through DELNET.
iii. Can get DELPLUS, LibraryManagement Software free ofcharge for automating libraryservices.
iv. Can help students and academicstaff to improve the quality of theirstudy and research by havingaccess to quality resources.
v. Can use consortia facilities forsubscribing to various Indian andforeign periodicals in differentdisciplines from reputed foreignand Indian publishers at reducedsubscription charges.
vi. Library staff can get training inthe latest Information andCommunication Technology(ICT) applications in libraries atthe tutorials, workshops, lecturesand training programmesorganised by DELNET in various
parts of the country from time totime, besides the NationalConvention on Knowledge, Libraryand Information Networking(NACLIN).
viii. The academic institutions andcolleges can fulfill manyrequirements of accreditationbodies concerning libraries.
ix. In case of loss of data in a member-institution for any reason, DELNETcan offer the copy of the data fromits archives back to the institution.
x. Libraries can save substantially bynot purchasing such publicationsor subscribing to such journalswhose use will be limited and theycan acquire such publicationsthrough DELNET.
xi. Reference Service using DELNETresources and services becomesmore professional and pin-pointed.Thus a number of the users’ needsare satisfied without much delay.
We are convinced that libraries are unableto buy every book, journal or a documentthey need and its use may be limited toa few users in each library at times.Accessing shared resources is the bestway to gain access to extensive resourcesat the lowest possible annual membershipfee.
7 Networked Resources
DELNET provides access to itsonline resources comprising more than2.65 crore bibliographic records withlocations through the Web for librariesdesiring to access through Internet. Webegan initially our network operations in1992 with a local dial-up server for thelibraries in Delhi and neighbouring satellitecities with 11 telephone lines which waseffectively used by the member-libraries.Initially NIC also supported DELNET byproviding the 64 kbps RF link at the IIC.It was upgraded to 11 mbps and in 2006when we shifted from the IndiaInternational Centre to our building in
Number of Member-Libraries ason December 31, 2017 - 6045
JNU Campus, the RF link wasestablished with NIC. This has nowbeen upgraded to the leased lineconnection between NIC and DELNET.
7.1 Union Catalogues andBibliographic Databases
Special efforts are being made tocollect and merge the records createdby the Member-Libraries located inDelhi and outside Delhi in differentstates. Visits by our staff are beingarranged and librarians are also beingprovided with the know-how for sendingrecords online or through E-mail. Aseparate booklet entitled Guidelinesfor Contributing Bibliographic Records
to DELNET was distributed to libraries forthis purpose.
Online demonstrations are made byDELNET staff during their visits outsideDelhi. The size of the Union Catalogue ofBooks along with the other databaseshas eventually increased with diverselocations of member-libraries acrossdifferent states in the country. Every daynew additions are made to the unioncatalogues. This continuing processenriches the content on a daily basis.
The following is a list of unioncatalogues, union lists and otherdatabases currently provided byDELNET:
7.2 DELNET Consortium
DELNET Consortium was startedin 2010 on the demand of manyDELNET member-libraries. It took thefollowing measures in this connection:
1. A certificate from thevendor was obtainedcertifying that the ratesoffered to consortiamembers were the lowestin the country.
2. Each member-librarywould get uninterruptedand constant access toresources for the periodfor which they hadsubscribed.
3. This service was optional.Libraries could use it ifthey so desired.
Access is offered to E-books andE-journals in the fields of Engineering,Technology and Allied Sciences,Management, Pharmacy, Medicine,Health Research, InformationTechnology, Computer Applications,Business and Humanities. At present,DELNET offers the following productsthrough its consortium:
DELNET started access to its unioncatalogues and databases throughWorld Wide Web from June 1,2000,using Basis Web Server.
8.2 Discovery Services
The records of DELNET’s unioncatalogues and union lists weretransferred to the Knowledge DiscoverySystem of DELNET in January 2017. Anumber of library professionals wereasked to offer their views on theKnowledge Discovery System. Afterreceiving the inputs the Discovery Portalwas made operational since January2017. It is a simple, single windowdiscovery layer which encourages theusers to explore the networked library
resources offered through DELNET in afeature-rich environment. We are certainthat the discovery services will help themember-libraries and their users in betterusage of DELNET resources andservices. The access is made throughthe IP authentication. The usage reportstatistics, ILL book status, date ofmembership expiry, etc can also be knownthrough this portal by the member-libraries.
8.3 ILL/DDS
DELNET’s Inter Library Loan (ILL)and Document Delivery Services (DDS)are expanding and becoming popularboth within and outside the country. Wehad wanted to make ILL operational byevery library using ILL software likeAriel. But it was noticed that in India thereis a greater need to offer personalisedservices not only to library users but alsoto library professionals who are workingin our member-libraries. On the WebServer we introduced automatedregistration of requests in the UnionCatalogue of Books and Database ofArticles as the requests for specificitems in these two databases weregrowing in number. That servicecontinues. The requests for books andarticles are entertained from member-libraries located both across and outsidethe country. Requests are alsoentertained from research scholars ofmember-libraries and we encourage themto use the services. We have been able toget photocopies of articles not traceablein India from outside India for the benefitof the researchers. Our services, offeredat a low cost, are well appreciated.
Delivery of books and photocopiesof articles through DELNET has remaineda regular activity. The work has increasedwith the rise in membership. This serviceis provided for specially identified itemsby the users through our online facilities.Keeping in view the importance of thisservice, a manual for streamlininginterlibrary loan transactions within andoutside India called ILL Manual was also
compiled. It was circulated amongmember-libraries for compliance in theearly stages. Now all ILL operationsare incorporated into the DELNETdiscovery portal. Library professionalscan send requests through E-mail aswell.
8.4 Users’ Support
DELNET provides support to usersthrough E-mail and other modes ofcommunication. A brochure containingthe Guidelines for Accessing DELNETOnline Database was prepared anddistributed among the institutions.DELNET posters are sent to member-libraries periodically for promotingthe use of DELNET resources andservices among faculty, students andthe public.
8.5 Survey
In 1998 we conducted a randomsurvey of 19 libraries in order to find outtheir preferred requirements throughDELNET. It was noted that the demandfor books, periodical articles, latestpublications along with Internet and e-mail were on top of their demands.Again in December 2008, DELNETconducted a survey among member-libraries to obtain suggestions fromthem on various issues regardingautomation and networking and theservices DELNET should be offeringto them. The suggestions wereappreciated and we upgraded ourservices keeping the suggestions frommembers in mind.
8.6 Coordination Units
DELNET established its Co-ordination Units in Bangalore (2003),Hyderabad (2012), Pune (2015) andHamirpur (2016) in order to servemember-libraries better. These unitsassist in Inter-Library Loan work,collection of data from libraries, hands-on for librarians that need training inusing DELNET resources and services,promotion of DELNET among non-member libraries, etc.
In order to promote network operations effectively,DELNET has decided to promote research and study on thespecialised issues concerning Library and Information Scienceand Networking. The following topics were initially identifiedfor study and research:
1. Network Development and Operations1.1 Planning and Coordination1.2 Network Systems1.3 ILL Research1.4 Network Communications
2. Content Management2.1 Union Catalogues and Bibliographic Databases2.2 Full Text Databases2.3 Image Control2.4 Publicity and Survey2.5 Users’ Support
3. Software Research4. Training and Publicity5. Retro-Conversion of Records
One of DELNET’s main objectives is to promote resourcesharing among libraries. To do so users need to know whatinformation resources are available in which library. This workwas initiated by DELNET by compiling union-catalogues,union lists and databases of resources available with itsmember-libraries and some non-member- libraries and makingthis information available to member-libraries online. Thismade the resource sharing effective and manageable.
9.1 Software Research
In 1996 we received Basis Plus software from theNational Informatics Centre. On July 2, 1996, DELSIS –DELNET System for Information Services was launched byDr. N. Seshagiri, Director-General, NIC. In 1999 NIC offeredBasis Web Server software to DELNET. DELNET has beenreceiving requests from member-libraries and non-member-libraries in the past for software for library management anddatabase creation purposes. The libraries wanted standardsoftware at a low rate with free updations. Many libraries inIndia could not afford to buy expensive library managementsoftware. We were deeply concerned about this problem andtried to find solutions to help our libraries. Our efforts ofpartnerships with commercial software agencies did not workas the priorities of DELNET and software agencies weredissimilar in nature in many respects. It was with this concernthat we opened a Software Unit in DELNET in 1997. Webegan with the creation of software for books, bearing in mindthe necessary features that are common to most of thelibraries. Our efforts resulted in the creation of software forthree purposes:
DELDOS, for creating MARC records. This software hasbeen used for retro-conversion purposes and for creatingcatalogue records for the National Bibliographic Database;DELWINDOWS which was later modified to DELPLUS,stand-alone library management software for small librariesup to a collection of about 100,000 books in their libraries; andDELMARC, LAN -based library management software for biglibraries with more than 100,000 collection of books.
All the three software are compatible with MARC 21 andare used at present in some of the member-libraries. Wehowever, upgrade them constantly. The member-librariesthat opt for these software get upgraded versions free ofcharge periodically. They also give us inputs for introducingnew features. We welcome all suggestions and the softwareteam that works on these software work regularly to upgradethem.
In 1997 we introduced DELSEARCH, an off-line remotedata access system through e-mail. It was the first of its kindin the world, which was userfriendly and economical.
10 International Initiatives
In order to promote DELNET services outside India, thefirst step DELNET took was to maintain the same feestructure of Indian libraries for libraries in other SAARCcountries. As a result, a few libraries from Nepal and Sri Lankastarted using DELNET. To promote the use of DELNET bylibraries outside SAARC the fee structure was kept very low.The charge of $100 as admission and $500 as the annualmembership fee are very low and reasonable. Four librariesfrom USA, the Philippines and Oman have joined so far. Also,special efforts were made at international conferences topromote DELNET services outside India. Some of them aregiven below:
February 5, 1996 DELNET in collaboration with NBTand RRRLF organised the SouthAsian Librarians’ Conference onNetworking of Public Libraries inSouth Asia in New Delhi.
February 18, 1997 Organised the Seminar on Australianand Indian Libraries: The Nature,Demands and Special Needs.
March 12, 1997 Organised the Seminar on Policy forEvolving the Global InformationInfrastructure in collaboration withthe American Centre Library, NewDelhi.
1999 Dr. H. K. Kaul, Director, DELNETgave online demonstrations of
DELNET from Lahore andIslamabad in April 1999 and fromColombo in October 1999.
May 17, 2003 A brainstorming meeting was heldat IIC to discuss the production,distribution and use of E-bookdevices in developing countries. Themeeting was attended by President,Scrimgeour Inc., Washington and aFormer Vice-President, World Bank,among others.
March 15-16, 2004 Dr. H. K. Kaul, Director, DELNETand Member, the Board ofManagement, National Library, Indiawas nominated as Coordinator ofthe International Conference onNational Library Services ICONLISwhich was organised in Kolkata withthe support of the Ministry of Culture,Government of India.
February 12, 2007 Organised an ‘Interactive Seminaron Advances in Australian UniversityLibraries’. The panel comprisedexperts from the University of NewEngland, Charles Sturt University,Macquarie University, University ofSydney and Australian NationalUniversity.
November 5, 2014 Organised an Indo-US Dialogue onthe Future of Librarianship at theIndia International Centre, NewDelhi. The panelists included expertsfrom IFLA, Corona Public Library,Corona, USA, Ramapo CatskillLibrary System, New York Stateamong others.
November 3, 2015 Organised the InternationalSymposium on Digital KnowledgeRepositories at the India InternationalCentre, New Delhi. Speakersincluded experts from Wenzhou-Kean University, Wenzhou, ZhejiangProvince, P. R. China; Virginia Tech,USA; Coalition for NetworkedInformation, Washington, DC, USA;State Library of Queensland,Queensland, Australia and theBritish Library, London.
11 National Initiatives and Projects
11.1 National Bibliographic Database
The Working Group on Libraries and Informatics of thePlanning Commission for the Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002) recommended that: “Among the different city networks,it has been found that DELNET has emerged as an operationallibrary network in India with 60 libraries in Delhi and six statesas its members. It has developed online Union Catalogues ofbooks and periodicals. It is recommended that DELNET besupported to create a National Database and develop on theOCLC pattern covering all subjects.”
Following up on this recommendation, DELNET submitteda proposal to the Department of Culture, Government ofIndia. The Department of Culture had approved the project asa Pilot Project. Under the Pilot Project, DELNET created75,000 catalogue records at Punjabi University Library, Patiala;International Institute of Tamil Studies Library, Chennai andAndhra University Library, Visakhapatnam. Subsequentlythe Department of Culture, Government of India approvedthe creation of 25,000 MARC records each at the AsiaticSociety, Mumbai and the Asiatic Society, Kolkata. The workat the Asiatic Society, Mumbai and at the Asiatic Society,Kolkata was also completed. These included cataloguerecords generated in Tamil, Punjabi, English and Bengali. Inpursuance of these projects, we also created about 22,000MARC records of books in English at the Sahitya AkademiLibrary in New Delhi.
11.2 Indian Digital Library Initiative [IDLI]
In order to create appropriate digital resources usinginternational standards we needed the infrastructure both forcreating new works in digital form and convert the old worksof excellence into digital form. DELNET undertook the studyon this project in 2000 and completed the Feasibility Reportof the Indian Digital Library Initiative for ERNET, Ministry ofCommunications and Information Technology in 2001.
11.3 AICTE - DELNET MOU
The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)and DELNET signed an MOU in 2001 to network the librariesof the technical institutions approved by AICTE. AICTE andDELNET greatly appreciated the importance of the availabilityof the appropriate information infrastructure in libraries ofTechnical Institutes. It was with these concerns in mind thatAICTE decided to network the libraries of Technical Institutesin India through DELNET. While the MOU remained in operationfor a few years, AICTE approved and accredited institutions
have been using DELNET services. In 2011-12 the use ofDELNET was recommended by AICTE in their handbook. In2017 AICTE has recommended that technical institutes shoulduse DELNET resources and services. It is hoped that the useof DELNET by technical libraries will go a long way in offeringquality content to students and staff of the technical institutions,in introducing resource sharing among the libraries, in obtainingthe latest technological inputs for modernising libraries and inreducing expenditures on collection development.
11.4 National Conventions on Knowledge, Library and Information Networking (NACLIN)
DELNET started the organisation of the NationalConvention on Library and Information Networking (NACLIN)in 1998 in order to offer technical guidance and the latestknow-how to library professionals in collecting, storing, sharingand disseminating information. Along with the NationalConvention, tutorials are organised every year on specificthemes. These help participants to acquire in-depth knowledgeon a subject of current importance in library and informationtechnology. So far, DELNET has organised 19 NationalConventions in different parts of the country. The following arethe details. Nineteen volumes of proceedings of these nationalconventions have also been published.
November 15-18, 1998 1st National Convention(NACLIN 1998) was organisedat the India International Centre,New Delhi. It was inauguratedby Dr. N. Seshagiri, Director-General, National InformaticsCentre.
Shri N. N. Vohra, Director, IIC releasing NACLIN 1998 publications
October 11-14, 1999 2nd National Convention(NACLIN 1999) was organisedat the India International Centre,New Delhi. Inaugurated by ShriM. K. Kaw, Secretary,Department of Education,Government of India.
December 22-25, 2000 3 rd National Convention(NACLIN 2000) was organisedat the Indian Institute ofTechnology, Madras.
November 6-9, 2001 4 th National Convention(NACLIN 2001) was organisedat the University of Hyderabad,Hyderabad.
October 21-24, 2002 5 th National Convention(NACLIN 2002) was organisedat Cochin University of Scienceand Technology, Cochin.
October 14-17, 2003 6 th National Convention(NACLIN 2003) was organisedat Jadavpur University, Kolkata.It was inaugurated by Prof. SatyaSadhan Chakraborty, Minister-in-Charge, Department of HigherEducation, Government of WestBengal.
November 23-26, 2004 7 th National Convention(NACLIN 2004) was organisedat the University of Pune, Pune.It was inaugurated byPadmashree Dr. Vijay Bhatkar.
August 22-25, 2005 8 th National Convention(NACLIN 2005) was organisedat PES University (formerly thePES Institute of Technology),Bangalore. It was inauguratedby Prof. A. Neelameghan.
September 27-30, 2006 9 th National Convention(NACLIN 2006) was organisedat the University of Jammu,Jammu.
November 20-23, 2007 10 th National Convention(NACLIN 2007) was organisedat the India International Centre,New Delhi. It was inauguratedby Dr. Karan Singh, M P.
November 4-7, 2008 11 th National Convention(NACLIN 2008) was organisedat the Karunya University,Coimbatore.
September 22-25, 2009 12 th National Convention(NACLIN 2009) was organisedat Panjab University,Chandigarh.
June 15-18, 2010 13 th National Convention(NACLIN 2010) was organised
at Birla Institute of Technology,Goa Campus. It was in-augurated by Professor S.S.Mantha, Chairman, All IndiaCouncil for Technical Education(AICTE), New Delhi.
November 15-17, 2011 14 th National Convention(NACLIN 2011) was organisedat Visva Bharati, Santiniketan,West Bengal.
November 20-22, 2012 15 th National Convention(NACLIN 2012) was organisedat the Maharaja SayajiraoUniversity, Vadodara.
December 10-12, 2013 16 th National Convention(NACLIN 2013) was organisedin collaboration with theMalaviya National Institute ofTechnology, Jaipur at HotelClarks Amer, Jaipur.
December 9-11, 2014 17 th National Convention(NACLIN 2014) was organisedin collaboration with the FrenchInstitute of Pondicherry,Puducherry. It was inauguratedby Hon’ble Dr A.P.J. AbdulKalam, Former President ofIndia.
Hon'ble Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam inaugurating NACLIN 2014
October 26-28, 2016 19 th National Convention(NACLIN 2016) was organisedat Tezpur University, Tezpur. Itwas inaugurated by the formerHon’ble Vice President of IndiaShri M. Hamid Ansari. Theprogramme was presided overby the Hon’ble Governor ofAssam Shri Banwarilal Purohit.The guests of honour includedHon’ble Shri Ranjit Dutta,Minister, Dept. of Irrigation,Handlooms, Textiles andSericulture and Hon’ble Shri RamPrasad Sarmah, Member ofParliament from Tezpur.
Hon'ble Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari inauguratingNACLIN 2016
November 28-30, 2017 20 th National Convention(NACLIN 2017) was organisedat India International Centre,New Delhi.
11.5 Convention on Modernisation and Networking ofLibraries
In collaboration with Andhra University, VishakhapatnamDELNET organized the Convention on Modernisation andNetworking of Libraries’ on January 20, 2001. The conventionwas the first of its type in Andhra Pradesh.
11.6 National Round Table on Modernisation andNetworking of Libraries in India
The first National Round Table on Modernisation andNetworking of Libraries in India was organised on January 5,2002 by DELNET with the support of the Department ofCulture, Government of India. It was inaugurated by Shri
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November 24-26, 2015 18 th National Convention(NACLIN 2015) was organisedat Gulbarga University,Gulbarga.
Jagmohan, Union Minister of Tourism and Culture,Government of India. The National Round Table discussedthe issues concerning modernisation and networking oflibraries in India.
11.7 National Seminar on Electronic Libraries in RuralIndia
DELNET organised a national seminar on ‘ElectronicLibraries in Rural India’ on May 11, 2002 to celebrate theNational Technology Day. It was inaugurated by ShriJagmohan, Hon’ble Minister for Tourism and Culture.
11.8 India Public Library Conference
1st India Public Libraries Conference – IPLC 2015 wasjointly organised from March 17-18, 2015 by DELNET andDigital Empowerment Foundation in association with a numberof institutions including the National Mission on Libraries,National Book Trust, Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation,National Library, Pratham Books, NASSCOM Foundation,IPSOS, Read Global, Sri Ratan Tata Trust, M. S. SaminathanResearch Foundation, RRRLF and IREX among others. Theconference was supported by the Bill and Melinda GatesFoundation. The theme of this conference was TransformingPublic Libraries in India: Envisioning the Future.
2nd India Public Libraries Conference was organised byDELNET in collaboration with the NASSCOM Foundation andBill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) from March 7-8,2016 at the India International Centre.
11.9 National Symposium on Libraries of the Future
DELNET organised the National Symposium on ‘Librariesof the Future: The Great Expectations’ jointly with IGroup andBalani Infotech at DELNET on November 18, 2016.
Hon'ble Shri Jagmohan speaking at the National Round Table
12 Education and Training
12.1 DELNET Annual Lectures
DELNET instituted Annual Lecture Series in 1998. Thelectures were delivered by the following experts:
January 5, 1998. 1st Annual Lecture was delivered byMr. N. Vittal, Chairman, PublicEnterprises Selection Board entitled‘Information Technology and LibraryNetworking: The Challenges Ahead’
July 21, 1999 2st Annual Lecture was delivered bythe late Prof. M.G.K. Menon,President, India International Centre,New Delhi entitled ‘TheTechnological Underpinnings of theNew Information Society’
December 8, 2000 3rd Annual Lecture was delivered byDr. V.S. Arunachalam, DistinguishedService Professor, the RoboticsInstitute, Carnegie Mellon Universityentitled ‘Information Technology: Isit a True Industrial Revolution?’
November 29, 2001 4th Annual Lecture was delivered byProf. N. Balakrishnan, Head,Supercomputer Education andResearch Centre, Indian Institute ofScience, Bangalore entitled ‘DigitalLibrary: Technology, Law andSociety’
January 4, 2002 5th Annual Lecture was delivered byDr. R. Natarajan, Chairman, All IndiaCouncil for Technical Education,New Delhi entitled ‘On theEmergence of India as a KnowledgeSuper Power’
Dr. N. Seshagiri delivering the Annual Lecture
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January 7, 2003 6th Annual Lecture was delivered byDr N Seshagiri, Former Director-General, National InformaticsCentre, New Delhi entitled ‘DigitalLibraries For Distance Education’
December 17, 2004 7th Annual Lecture ws delivered byDr. N. Vijayaditya, Director-General,National Informatics Centre, NewDelhi entitled ‘Facing the CitizenTurning G to G by 180’
May 4, 2005 8th Annual Lecture was delivered byProf. Paul Sturges, Editor ofInternational Encyclopaedia ofInformation and Library Science,Deputy Head, Department ofInformation Science, LoughboroughUniversity, Leicestershire, UKentitled ‘Copyright in the Digital Era’
December 4, 2006 9th Annual Lecture was delivered byProf. P.M. Bhargava, Vice-Chairman,National Knowledge Commission,Government of India entitled ‘TheRelation Between the Arts andScience’
August 3, 2007 10th Annual Lecture was deliveredby Prof. V.S. Prasad, Director,NAAC, Bangalore entitled ‘Qualityof Library and Information Services’
November 28, 2008 11th Annual Lecture was deliveredby Mr. Stephen Abram, President,Special Libraries Association (SLA),USA entitled ‘Libraries and the GlobalTechnology Forecast’
March 5, 2009 12th Annual Lecture was deliveredby Professor S. V. Raghavan,Network System Laboratory,Department of Computer Scienceand Engineering, IIT, Madras entitled‘Information Dissemination in NextGeneration Networks: Opportunitiesand Challenges’
May 11, 2010 13th Annual Lecture was deliveredby Professor S. S. Mantha,Chairman, All India Council forTechnical Education, New Delhientitled ‘Robotics and ArtificialIntelligence’
March 19, 2012 14th Annual Lecture was deliveredby Mr. Brent Mai, President, SpecialLibraries Association, USA entitled‘The Library in the Cloud’
December 5, 2012 15th Annual Lecture was deliveredby Dr. Gulshan Rai, Director-General, I-CERT (Indian ComputerEmergency Response Team) andGC (Cyber Laws and Security),Department of InformationTechnology, Government of Indiaentitled ‘Cyber Laws and E-security’
February 8, 2014 16th Annual Lecture was deliveredby Prof. Sandeep Sancheti,President, Manipal University, Jaipurentitled ‘Personalising Libraries andTheir Access’
March 17, 2015 17th Annual Lecture was deliveredby Mr. Brian Gambles, ExecutiveDirector, Library of BirminghamTrust, Birmingham entitled ‘ThePower of Libraries: Building theMemory Machine’
December 11, 2015 18th Annual Lecture was deliveredby Prof. Subrata Chakraborty,Former Dean and Director-in-Charge, Indian Institute ofManagement, Lucknow; and FormerDirector, Jaipuria Institute ofManagement, Lucknow at IIC, NewDelhi entitled ‘Functioning inChallenging Times : Bridging theExpectation - Fulfilment Gap in Libary& Information Services’
December 13, 2016 19th Annual Lecture was deliveredby Mrs. Heather Brown, AssistantDirector of Paper, Books andPreventive, Artlab Australia,Adelaide entitled ‘Digital and PhysicalPreservation Management : BestPractices and Strategies’
12.2 Other Lectures
The following lectures were organised by DELNET besidesthe Annual Lectures:
July 22, 1993 Prof. Gary Marchionini, AssistantProfessor at the University of
Maryland delivered a talk on‘Information Seeking in ElectronicEnvironment with Implications forLibrary and Information ScienceEducation’ at IIC. Shri M.K.R. Naidupresided.
April 27, 1994 Lecture on ‘American Libraries’ byDr. David Magier of the ColumbiaUniversity Library.
December, 1994 Lecture on ‘Library Networking:Problems and Prospects’ by Mr.Bruce Royan, Director, InformationServices & University Librarian,University of Sterling, UK.
August 29, 1995 Lecture demonstration on the ‘Useof GIST in Libraries’ by Mr.Mohan Tambe. Executive Director,Language Technology Mission ofDepartment of Electronics,Government of India.
January 2, 1996 Dr. N. Seshagiri, DG, NIC delivereda talk on ‘Networking in India: ANational Perspective’.
March 1, 1996 Lecture on ‘Vision for a UniversalLibrary’ was delivered by Prof.Pradeep Khosla, Director, AdvancedManipulators Lab, The RoboticsInstitute, Carnegie Mellon University.
August 1, 1996 Lecture on ‘The ABC of UK Libraries:Access, Business and Convergence’by Simon Francis, Advisor to theBritish Library, UK.
September 30, 1997 Lecture on the ‘Role of EDI inPublishing and Library Networking’by Mr. Julian Hardinge, GeneralManager, International LibraryServices, John Smith & Son, UK.
August 8, 1997 In collaboration with IGNCAorganised a lecture on ‘Extension ofNetwork Services to Libraries inMaine (USA)’ by Mr. Paul Shroeder,a doctoral scholar at the Departmentof Spatial Information Scienceand Engineering, University ofMaine.
January 3, 1998 Lecture on ‘Digital Resources forSouth Asian Studies’ byMs. Suzanne McMahon, South AsiaSpecialist, University of Californiaat Berkeley.
January 8, 1999 Lecture on ‘Information Networks’in collaboration with INSA by Dr.Wendy White, Director, Division ofInternational Organisations &Academy Corp, National Academyof Sciences, Washington.
March 16, 1999 Lecture on ‘Sankhya Vahini: TheData Network for India’ by Dr. V. S.Arunachalam, DistinguishedServices Professor and Dr. RajReddy, Dean, both from CarnegieMellon University, Baltimore, USA.
March 19, 1999 Lecture on ‘Multimedia in Libraries:Some Recent Developments andSolutions’ by Dr. Anthony HughThompson, Managing Director,Multimedia Information &Technology, UK.
May 3, 2000 Lecture on ‘National Libraries in aGlobal Perspective: The Role of theLibrary of Congress’ by Dr. AllenW. Thrasher, Senior ReferenceLibrarian for South Asia, Library ofCongress.
January 8, 2001 Lecture on ‘Attitudes and Skills forInformation Managers in the DigitalAge’ by Mr. Edmund Marsden,Director, British Council Division,British High Commission, New Delhi.
May 12, 2003 Lecture on ‘Next GenerationInternet’ to celebrate NationalTechnology. The lecture wasdelivered by Dr. S. Ramakrishnan,Senior Director and Head, SoftwareDevelopment Division, Departmentof Information Technology,Government of India and ExecutiveDirector, CDAC.
January 8, 2004 Lecture on ‘Overseas Programmeof the Library of Congress’ byDr. Laila Mulgaonkar, Field Director,Library of Congress, New Delhi.
May 11, 2004 On National Technology DayDELNET organised a lecture on ‘NewTrends in IT: Content Creation’ byDr. V.N. Shukla, Director, SpecialApplications, Centre forDevelopment of AdvancedComputing (CDAC), NOIDA.
July 3, 2004 Lecture on ‘TQP-Total QualityPerson’ by Prof. (Dr.) C. V.Ramanan, Director, Sri SingeriInstitute of Management, New Delhi.
January 3, 2005 Lecture on ‘UNESCO: Communica-tion and Information in Asia’ byDr. Susanne Ornager, Advisor forCommunication and Information inAsia and the Pacific.
January 31, 2005 Lecture on ‘ISO 9001: Applicationsin Libraries and Information Centres’by Dr. Harish Chandra, Librarian,Indian Institute of Technology,Madras.
February 18, 2005 Lecture on ‘Public Library Servicesin the United States and India’ by Dr.Shameem J. Syed, Associate BranchManager, Fairfax County PublicLibrary, VA, USA and Dr. H. K. Kaul,Director, DELNET.
May 4, 2005 Lecture was delivered on ‘Copyrightin the Digital Era’ by Prof. PaulSturges, Author of Encyclopaedia ofLibrarianship and a Senior Professorat the Loughborough University,Licestershire, UK.
December 5, 2006 Lecture on ‘Who Guards theGuards? : Challenges and Strategiesfor Digital Preservation’ by HeatherBrown, Asstt Director, Paper, ArtlabAustralia and Project Officer,State Library of South Australia,for University of South AustraliaBusiness RFDX InformationCentre.
February 23, 2007 Organised in collaboration with theBritish Council, lecture on ‘Towardsa Science of the Web’ by Prof.Wendy Hall, Prof. and Head, Schoolof Electronics and Computer
Science, University of Southampton,UK.
November 1, 2007 Lecture on ‘Knowledge Management: The Indian Context’ by Prof. RobertNewton, Associate Dean(Research), Aberdeen BusinessSchool, The Robert GordonUniversity, Aberdeen, Scotland, UKat DELNET.
February 17, 2009 Lecture by Dr. Ajit Pyati on ‘PublicLibrary Revitalisation in India: Visionsand Possibilities’.
August 6, 2009 Lecture by Dr. Caroline M. Stern ofFerris State University, USA on‘Information Literacy Completencies:New Directions’.
October 7, 2009 Lecture by Janice R. Lachance on‘Advocating for the Value ofInformation Professionals in theWorkplace’ in collaboration with theAsian Chapter of Special LibrariesAssociation (SLA), USA.
July 28, 2011 Dr. V. N. Shukla, Associate Director,CDAC, Noida delivered a talk on‘Digitisation Practices in India: Issuesand Challenges’.
January 24, 2015 Lecture on the ‘Four Pillars ofKnowledge’ was delivered by Dr.Karan Singh, MP.
May 11, 2016 Lecture on ‘Digital Content:Strategies for the Future’ by Dr.Ajay Kumar, Additional Secretary,MeitY, Government of India. Thislecture was organised keeping inmind that the librarians wereinterested in knowing about theGovernment of India’s policies aboutthe promotion of digital content
July 29, 2016 Lecture on ‘E-waste Managementin Institutions: Rules and Guidelines’by Dr. Sandip Chatterjee, Director& OSD, Ministry of Electronics andInformation Technology, Govern-ment of India.
September 15, 2016 Lecture on ‘Crowdsourcing, theIssue of Common Concern to LISProfessionals’ by Dr. Mausam,
Associate Faculty in the Departmentof Computer Science andEngineering, IIT Delhi and AffiliateFaculty, Department of ComputerScience and Engineering, Universityof Washington, Seattle.
October 21, 2016 In collaboration with the AmericanCentre Library, New Delhi DELNETorganised a lecture on ‘GlobalTrends in Libraries’ by Dr.Christopher Dunnett, Director, Officeof American Spaces, Bureau ofInternational Programmes, USDepartment of State, Washington,USA.
June 30, 2017 DELNET Silver Jubilee Lecturedelivered by Dr. Neeta Verma,Director-General, NationalInformatics Centre, Ministry ofElectronics and InformationTechnology. Chair : Prof. M.Jagadesh Kumar, Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor, JNU.
12.3 Workshops, Discussions and Training Programmes
DELNET has been organising training programmes forLibrary and Information Science Professionals in the country.Most of these training programmes have been organised incollaboration with reputed institutions across the country.
1993 The National Workshop on LibraryNetwork Services organised incollaboration with DRTC, Bangalore.
January 26-28, 1995 In collaboration with IIT Delhiorganised a training programme inCDS/ISIS.
Jan. 30-Feb. 3, 1995 Training programme in E-mail andOnline Services.
August 13, 1996 In collaboration with the USInformation Service organised apanel discussion on ‘ElectronicPublishing and Intellectual PropertyRights’ at IIC.
September 9-11, 1997 A three-day workshop on ‘Access toInternet’ in collaboration with theIndian National Science Academy(INSA).
September 10, 1998 Interactive workshop incollaboration with Katha entitled‘Libraries as Centres of Creativity:The Culture of Reading’.
May 11-12, 2000 Training programme in collaborationwith ICAR on ‘Exploring Internetand Its Applications, WebsiteCreation, etc.’ by Ms. MaureenMahoney of CABI. Online access toDELNET resources and a demo onDELNET software was also given.
June 5, 2000 Meet on Modernisation of OrientalLibraries with the support of theMinistry of Culture, Government ofIndia.
October 3-5, 2000 Two-day training programme at IITRoorkee on IT Applications inLibraries.
July 8-10, 2002 DELNET training programme atRajiv Gandhi University of HealthSciences, Bangalore.
August 19-21, 2002 DELNET training programme atthe National Informatics Centre,Pune.
September 18, 2002 DELNET training programme atthe Indian Institute of Technology,Madras.
Nov. 26- 28, 2002 DELNET training programme atJadhavpur University, Kolkata.
December 2-4, 2002 DELNET training programme atNational Informatics Centre, NewDelhi.
January 21, 2003 DELNET training programme atthe University Institute of ChemicalTechnology, Mumbai.
March 15, 2003 DELNET training programme atthe Indian Institute of HealthManagement Research, Jaipur.
May 15, 2003 Seminar on DELNET was organisedby the Punjab Technical Universityand DELNET at DAV Institute ofEngineering and Technology,Jalandhar. The seminar wasinaugurated by Prof. Y.S. Rajan,
December 8-10, 2003 DELNET training programme on‘Emerging Technologies for EffectiveManagement of Library Services’ atthe National Informatics Centre, NewDelhi.
April 19-20, 2004 DELNET training programme wasorganised at the National InformaticsCentre, New Delhi.
June 14, 2004 DELNET training programme at KLNCollege of Engineering, Madurai.
June 17, 2004 DELNET training programme at MSRamaiah Institute of Management,Bangalore.
June 19, 2004 DELNET training programme atUniversity of Hyderabad, Hyderabad.
August 28, 2004 DELNET training programme at theNational Institute of FinancialManagement, Faridabad.
September 2, 2004 DELNET training programme atMalaviya National Institute ofTechnology, Jaipur.
September 18, 2004 DELNET training programme atPanjab University, Chandigarh.
September 27,2004 DELNET training programme at theMedi-Caps Institute of Technologyand Management, Indore.
March 15, 2005 DELNET training programme atJadavpur University, Kolkata
April 16, 2007 One-day Orientation Programmewas organised at RavenshawUniversity, Cuttack.
April 30, 2007 Orientation programme at theHaryana College of Technology &Management, Kaithal.
September 3-5, 2007 Workshop on Building DigitalLibraries: Application of DSpaceorganised at DELNET.
September 27-29, 2007 Workshop on ‘New Trends in Libraryand Information Services’ organisedat DELNET.
February 18, 2008 Workshop at NRI Institute of
Technology and Management,Gwalior.
March 10-13, 2008 Interactive Workshop on ‘KOHA: AnOpen Source Integrated LibrarySystem’ at DELNET.
March 27, 2008 DELNET Workshop at KumaonUniversity, Almora.
September 29, 2008 Orientation programme at Sarva-janik College of Engineering andTechnology, Surat.
March 25-27, 2009 A Regional Workshop on Koha : AnOpen Source Integrated LibrarySystem (ILS) : An Ideal Oppportunityfor Libraries was organised atDELNET, New Delhi.
May 18-21, 2009 National Workshop on ‘Koha’: AnOpen Source Integrated LibrarySystem’ and orientation programmeorganised at Amrits School ofEngineering, Amrits VishwaVidyapeetham, Bangalore.
May 23, 2009 Orientation programme at SRMUniversity, Kattankulathur,Kancheepluram District, TamilNadu.
June 5, 2009 DELNET orientation programmeorganized at Visva-BharatiUniversity, Santiniketan.
July 27-29, 2009 Workshop on ‘Modernisation ofCollege Libraries in Jammu &Kashmir’ at the Department ofLibrary and Information Science,University of Kashmir.
April 28-30, 2010 A workshop was organised atDELNET on ‘DSpace for BuildingDigital Libraries’.
May 3-5, 2010 A workshop on ‘Koha: An OpenSource Integrated Library System’was organised at DELNET, NewDelhi.
July 29, 2010 Orientation programme at GLAITM(now GLA University), Mathura, UttarPradesh.
November 13, 2010 Orientation programme at VRSiddhartha Engineering College,Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.
January 30, 2012 DELNET orientation programme atSri Krishna College of Engineeringand Technology, Coimbatore.
February 1, 2012 DELNET orientation programme atR.V. College of Engineering,Bangalore.
August 13, 2012 DELNET orientation workshop atMalla Reddy Engineering College,Secunderabad.
December 15, 2012 A panel discussion on ‘Transcendingthe Boundaries of Vision: ManagingDigital Content in the MainstreamLibraries for the Print Disabled’ heldat IIC Annexe, New Delhi.
March 16, 2013 DELNET orientation workshop atNational Institute of Virology, Pune.
March 19, 2013 DELNET orientation programme atKDK College of Engineering, Nagpur.
April 20, 2013 DELNET orientation programme atSri Sai Ram Engineering College,Chennai.
April 22, 2013 DELNET orientation programme atthe National Institute of Technology,Tiruchirappalli.
May 4, 2013 DELNET orientation programme atthe KLE Society’s College ofEngineering & Technolgy, Belgaum.
May 7, 2013 DELNET orientation programme atthe JSS Academy of TechnicalEducation, Bangalore.
June 15, 2013 DELNET orientation programme atthe Central University of HimachalPradesh, Shahpur Campus, Kangra.
July 20, 2013 DELNET orientation programme atAmity University, Noida.
August 10, 2013 DELNET orientation programme atthe Synergy Institute of Engineering& Technology, Dhenkanal,Bhubaneswar.
March 1, 2014 DELNET orientation programme atNational Institute of Technology,Durgapur, West Bengal.
April 21, 2014 DELNET orientation workshop atO.P. Jindal Global University Library,Sonepat, Haryana.
May 3, 2014 DELNET orientation workshop at K.S.Rangasamy College of Technology,Tiruchengode, Namakkal, TamilNadu.
May 6, 2014 DELNET orientation workshop at St.Joseph’s Engineering College,Mangalore, Karnataka.
August 27, 2014 DELNET orientation workshop atK.C.E.S’s Institute of Management &Research, Jalgaon, Maharashtra.
August 30, 2014 DELNET orientation workshop atMedi-Caps Group of Institutions,Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
September 29, 2014 A Webinar was given for SanjayGhodawat Group of Institutions,Atigre, Tal. Hatkanangale, DistrictKolhapur. (Maharashtra).
February 17, 2015 A panel discussion on ‘A ReadingSpace for Common India: IPLC andBeyonds was organised incollaboration with NBT and DigitalEmpowerment Foundation at theWorld Book Fair.
August 31, 2015 Workshop on ‘Cyber Security - DigitalInformation Security and Protectionof Information Assets’ at DELNET incollaboration with Cyber PeaceFoundation and ICERT, Ministryof Information Technology,Government of India. The workshopwas inaugurated by Dr. GulshanRai, Chief Information SecurityOfficer (CISO) of India, PMO.
September 12, 2015 Workshop on ‘DELNET: Resources,Services, Facilities and Dspace: AnOpen Source Software for BuildingDigital Library, InstitutionalRepository’ at Vignan’s University,Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh.
October 7, 2015 ‘Brainstorming Seminar on CurrentIssues in Library and InformationServices (LIS)’ at DELNET.
October 24, 2015 Workshop on ‘DELNET: Resources,Services, Facilities and Dspace:An Open Source Software forBuilding Digital Library, InstitutionalRepository’ at Swami KeshvanandInstitute of Technology, Management& Gramothan, Jaipur, Rajasthan.
November 16, 2015 Academic Integrity Event: How toStop Plagiarism in the AcademicEnvironment at DELNET.
January 15, 2016 Symposium on ‘Igniting YoungMinds: Digital Resources for SchoolLibraries in India’ in collaborationwith the National Book Trust at theWorld Book Fair, Pragati Maidan,New Delhi.
June 25, 2016 Workshop on ‘DELNET: Resources,Services and Facilities and OpenSource Software for Libraries’ heldat Sri Padmavathi MahilaVisvavidyalayam (Women’sUniversity), Tirupati.
August 8, 2016 Seminar on ‘Reinventing Librariesfor the New Generation of LibraryUsers’ at DELNET. Experts fromDelhi and outside Delhi participatedin the seminar.
August 27, 2016 Workshop on ‘DELNET: Resources,Services and Facilities and OpenSource Software for Libraries’ heldat Sarojini Naidu Government GirlsPostgraduate (Autonomous)College, Bhopal.
September 3, 2016 Workshop on ‘DELNET: Resources,Services and Facilities and OpenSource Softwares for Libraries’ heldat Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya,Haridwar.
November 12, 2016 Workshop on ‘DELNET: Resources,Services and Facilities and OpenSource Software for Libraries’ heldat Bharati Vidyapeeth DeemedUniversity, New Law College, Pune.
November 15, 2016 Workshop on ‘DELNET: Resources,Services & Facilities and OpenSource Software for Libraries’ heldat Shri Ramdeobaba College ofEngineering & Management,Nagpur.
March 4, 2017 DELNET One-Day Workshop on‘DELNET Discovery Services, OpenSource Software & CommunicationSkills for LIS Professionals’ incollaboration with INMANTEC,Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh held atINMANTEC, Ghaziabad.
April 11, 2017 DELNET One-Day Workshop on‘DELNET Discovery Services, OpenSource Software & Emerging Trendsin LIS Services’ in collaboration withChrist University, Bengaluru held atChrist University, Bengaluru.
in LIS Services’ in collaboration withS. R. M. University, Chennai held atS. R. M. University, Chennai
May 5, 2017 Workshop on ‘DELNET - Resources& Services : Boundless Possibilitiesfor Research and Reference’organised jointly with Kamala NehruCollege, University of Delhi, NewDelhi
May 10, 2017 Organised in collaboration withInstitut Francais in India theMediatheques XXI at DELNETincluding the panel discussion on‘Building Collections, Connectionsand Collaborations for EnhancingResearch Facilities for FrenchStudies in India’.
July 29, 2017 DELNET One-Day Workshop on‘DELNET Discovery Services, OpenSource Software, Emergingtechnologies in KnowledgeManagement & Academic IntegrityHow to Stop Plagiarism in AcademicEnvironment’ held at Dr. O. P. BhallaCentral Library, Manav RachnaInternational University, Faridabad,Haryana
August 2, 2017 DELNET One-Day Workshop on‘DELNET Discovery Services, OpenSource Software, CommunicationSkills for LIS Professionals,Emerging Technologies inKnowledge Management &Academic Integrity: How to StopPlagiarism in AcademicEnvironment’ held at KeralaUniversity of Fisheries & OceanStudies, Kochi on Wednesday,
August 5, 2017 DELNET One-Day Workshop on‘DELNET Discovery Services, OpenSource Software, CommunicationSkills for LIS Professionals,Emerging Technologies inKnowledge Management andAcademic Integrity: How to StopPlagiarism in AcademicEnvironment’ held at ThiagarajarSchool of Management, Madurai
August 21, 2017 DELNET One-Day Workshop on
‘DELNET Discovery Services,Open Source Software, Emergingtechnologies in KnowledgeManagement, CommunicationSkills for LIS Professionals,Academic Integrity and Plagiarism’held at I. T. M. University, Gwalior.
August 28, 2017 DELNET One-Day Workshop on‘DELNET Discovery Services,Open Source Software, Emergingtechnologies in KnowledgeManagement, CommunicationSkills for LIS Professionals,Academic Integrity and Plagiarism’scheduled to be held at ChitkaraUniversity, Solan has beenpostponed.
September 8, 2017 DELNET One-Day Workshop on‘DELNET Discovery Services,Open Source Software, EmergingTechnologies in KnowledgeManagement, CommunicationSkills for LIS Professionals,Academic Integrity and Plagiarism’held at Jawaharlal NehruTechnological University,Hyderabad
September 11, 2017 DELNET One-Day Workshop on‘DELNET Discovery Services,Open Source Software, EmergingTechnologies in KnowledgeManagement, CommunicationSkills for LIS Professionals,Academic Integrity and Plagiarism’held at Aditya Engineering College,Surampalem.
September 16, 2017 DELNET One-Day Workshop on‘DELNET Discovery Services,Open Source Software, EmergingTechnologies in KnowledgeManagement, CommunicationSkills for LIS Professionals,Academic Integrity and Plagiarism’held at D. A. V. University,Jalandhar.
13 DELNET Publications
The staff have been editing / writing books and paperson various themes connected with Library and InformationScience and Networking. The details are available at DELNET
Website. The following are reports and books (hardbound)produced by DELNET and its staff from 1990 to 2017:
1990 Feasibility Report on DELNET prepared by C. M. C.Ltd. Coordination Committee constituted by NISSATwith Dr. S. Varadarajan, as its Chairman and Dr. H. K.Kaul as its Member-Secretary.
1994 DELNET Newsletter was started. It is being publishedregularly since 1994.
DELNET Newsletter Vol 1 (1) January 1994.DELNET Newsletter Vol 1 (2-3) October 1994.
1995 DELNET Newsletter Vol 2 (1) March 1995.DELNET Newsletter Vol 2 (2) November 1995.
1996 DELNET Newsletter Vol 3 (1) July 1996.DELNET Newsletter Vol 3 (2) December 1996.
1997 DELNET Newsletter Vol 4 (1) July 1997.DELNET Newsletter Vol 4 (2) December 1997.
1998 Kaul, H. K. ed. Library and Information Networking-NACLIN 1998: Proceedings of the NationalConvention on Library and Information Networking(NACLIN 98), November 16-18, 1998 held at IIC, NewDelhi. New Delhi: DELNET, 1999. Xvi, 387p.
DELNET Newsletter Vol 5 (1) June 1998.DELNET Newsletter Vol 5 (2) December 1998.
1999 Kaul, H. K., ed. Library and Information Networking-NACLIN 99: Papers of the National Convention onLibrary and Information Networking (NACLIN 99)October 11-14, 1999 held at IIC, New Delhi: DELNET,2000. Xvi, 340p.
DELNET Newsletter Vol 6 (1) July 1999.DELNET Newsletter Vol 6 (2) December 1999.
2000 Kaul, H. K. and Harish Chandra, eds. Library andInformation Networking-NACLIN 2000: Papers of theNational Convention on Library and InformationNetworking (NACLIN 2000). December 22-25, 2000held at IIT Madras, Chennai, New Delhi: DELNET-2000. 378p.
DELNET Newsletter Vol 7 (1) July 2000.DELNET Newsletter Vol 7 (2) December 2000.
2001 Methodology for Sending Catalogue
Records to DELNET. New Delhi: DELNET, 2001.
ILL Guidelines. New Delhi: DELNET, 2001.
Kaul, H. K. and Rama Reddy, E., eds. Library andInformation Networking-NACLIN 2001: Papers of theNational Convention on Library and Information
Networking (NACLIN 2001), November 6-9, 2001,held at University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, NewDelhi: DELNET, 2002 xii, 492p.
2002 Kaul, H. K. and Baby, M. D., eds. Library andInformation Networking-NACLIN 2002: Papers of theNational Convention on Library and InformationNetworking (NACLIN 2002), October 21-24, 2002held at CUSAT, Cochin, New Delhi: DELNET, 2003xxviii, 471p.
Kaul, H. K., ed. National Round Table on theModernisation and Networking of Libraries in Indiaheld on January 5, 2002. New Delhi: DELNET, 2002.254p.
DELNET Newsletter Vol 9 (1) July 2002.DELNET Newsletter Vol 9 (2) December 2002.
2003 Kaul, H. K. and Das, B. B. ed. Library and InformationNetworking : NACLIN 2003 : Papers of the NationalConvention on Library and Information Networking(NACLIN 2003) held at Jadavpur University, Kolkata,October 14-17, 2003. New Delhi: DELNET, 2004.xxxii, 568p.
DELNET Newsletter Vol 10 (1-2) December 2003.
2004 Kaul, H. K. and Patil, S. K. eds. Library and InformationNetworking: Papers of the National Convention onLibrary and Information Networking (NACLIN 2004)held at the University of Pune, Pune, November 23-26, 2004. New Delhi: DELNET, 2005. Xvi,366p.
DELNET Newsletter Vol 11(1-2) December 2004.
2005 Kaul, H. K. and Sen, Gayathri, eds. Library andInformation Networking- NACLIN 2005: Papers ofthe National Convention on Library and InformationNetworking (NACLIN 2005) held at PES Institute ofTechnology, Bangalore, August 22-25, 2005. NewDelhi: DELNET, 2006. xxxi, 467p.
DELNET Newsletter Vol 12(1-2) December 2005.
2006 Kaul, H.K. and Malhan, I.V. eds. Knowledge Libraryand Information Networking : NACLIN 2006 :Proceedings of the National Convention onKnowledge, Library and Information NetworkingNACLIN 2006 held at University of Jammu, Jammu,September 27-30, 2006. New Delhi: DELNET, 2007.Xxxii, 537p.
2007 Kaul, H.K. and Kaul, Sangeeta,eds. KnowledgeLibrary and Information Networking: NACLIN 2007:Papers of the 10th National Convention on Knowledge,Library and Information Networking NACLIN 2007held at the India International Centre, New Delhi fromNovember 20-23, 2007. New Delhi: DELNET, 2008,xxxviii, 700p. ISBN: 978-81-905838-1-7.
DELNET Newsletter Vol 14(1-2) December 2007.
2008 Kaul, H.K. and Dominic, J., ed. Knowledge,Library and Information Networking: NACLIN2008. Proceedings of the 11th National Conventionon Knowledge, Library and InformationNetworking (NACLIN 2008) held at KarunyaUniversity, Coimbatore, November 4-7, 2008.New Delhi: DELNET, 2009. xxviii, 443p. ISBN: 978-81-905838-3-1.
DELNET Newsletter Vol 15(1-2) December 2008.
2009 Kaul, H. K. and Anand, V. K. , eds. Knowledge,Library and Information Networking: NACLIN 2009.Papers of the 12th National Convention onKnowledge, Library and Information Networking(NACLIN 2009) held at Panjab University, Chandigarh,Sept 22-25, 2009, New Delhi: DELNET, 2010. pp.xxviii,443p. ISBN: 978-81-905838-5-5
DELNET Newsletter Vol 16(1-2) December 2009.
2010 Kaul, H. K. and Bhat, M. Ishwara, eds. Knowledge,Library and Information Networking: Proceedingsof the 13th National Convention on Knowledge,Library and Information Networking : NACLIN2010 held at BITS Pilani, Goa Campus, Goa,June 15-18, 2010 New Delhi : DELNET, 2011, 399p.ISBN: 978-81-905838-7-9.
DELNET Newsletter Vol 17(1-2) December 2010.
2011 Kaul, H. K. and Nandi, Subodh Gopal, eds. NationalLibrary and Information Networking – NACLIN 2011:Proceedings of the 14th National Convention onKnowledge, Library and Information Networking(NACLIN 2011) held at Visva Bharati, Santiniketan,West Bengal, November 15-17, 2011, New Delhi :DELNET, 2012, 490p. ISBN: 978-81-905838-9-3.
DELNET Newsletter. Vol 18(1-2) December 2011.
2012 Kaul, H. K. and Trivedi, Mayank, eds. Papers of the15th National Convention on Knowledge, Library andInformation Networking (NACLIN 2012) held at theMaharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda,Vadodarafrom November 20-22, 2012. New Delhi : DELNET,2013. xxiv, 368p. ISBN: 978-93-82735-01-4.
DELNET Newsletter. Vol 19(1-2) December 2012.
2013 Kaul, H. K., Singh, Deep and Kaul, Sangeeta., eds.Knowledge, Library and Information Networking:NACLIN 2013: Papers of the 16th National Conventionon Knowledge, Library and Information Networking(NACLIN 2013) held at Hotel Clarks Amber, Jaipurfrom December 10-12, 2013. New Delhi: DELNET,2014. xxiv, 451p. ISBN: 978-93-82735-03-8.
DELNET Newsletter. Vol 20(1-2) December 2013.
2014 Kaul, H. K., Naik, Anurupa and Kaul, Sangeeta.Knowledge, Library and Information Networking:NACLIN 2014. Papers of the 17th National Conventionon Knowledge, Library and Information Networking(NACLIN 2013) held at Pondicherry fromDecember 9-11, 2014. New Delhi: DELNET, 2015.420p. ISBN: 978-93-82735-05-2
DELNET Newsletter. Vol 21(1-2) December 2014.
2015 Kaul, H. K., Gaddagimath, R. B. and Kaul, Sangeeta.Knowledge, Library and Information Networking:NACLIN 2015. Papers of the 18th National Conventionon Knowledge, Library and Information Networking(NACLIN 2015) held at Gulbarga University, Gulbargafrom November 24-26, 2015. New Delhi: DELNET,2016. xxvii,387p. ISBN: 978-93-82735-07-6.
DELNET Newsletter. Vol 22(1-2) December 2015.
2016 Kaul, H. K., Saikia, Mukesh and Kaul, Sangeeta.Knowledge, Library and Information Networking:NACLIN 2016. Papers of the 19th National Conventionon Knowledge, Library and Information Networking(NACLIN 2016) held at Tezpur University, Tezpurfrom October 26-28, 2016. New Delhi: DELNET,2017. xxiv, 340p. ISBN: 978-93-82735-09-0.
DELNET Newsletter. Vol 23(1-2) December 2016.
2017 Kaul, H. K. and Kaul, Sangeeta. Knowledge, Libraryand Information Networking: NACLIN 2017. Papersof the 20th National Convention on Knowledge,Library and Information Networking (NACLIN 2017)held at India International Centre, New Delhi fromNovember 28-30, 2017. New Delhi: DELNET, 2017.xxiii, 269p. ISBN: 978-93-82735-12-0.
Kaul, H. K. Empowering Libraries: Strategies for theFuture. New Delhi: DELNET, 2017. Xviii, 345p.ISBN: 978-93-82735-10-6
DELNET: The Milestones in Sharing Knowledge –Silver Jubilee Profile, 1992-2017. New Delhi:DELNET, 2017. 120p. ISBN: 978-93-82735-11-3.
WorkshopsDELNET organised a series of workshops during the year 2017 in order to promote the use of DELNET
services in different parts of the country.
A one-day workshop in collaboration with INMANTEC, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh was organised on March 4, 2017.Dr. Rajesh Kumar, Librarian, Integrated Academy of Management and Technology (INMANTEC) was the Local Coordinator
of the Workshop.
A one-day workshop in collaboration with Christ University, Bengaluru, Karnataka was organised on April 11, 2017.Mr. Sree Kumar Nair, Librarian, Christ University, Bengaluru was the Local Coordinator of the Workshop.
A one-day workshop in collaboration with S. R. M. University, Ramapuram Campus, Chennai, Tamil Nadu was organised onApril 13, 2017. Dr. K. Thandavamoorthy, Chief Librarian, S. R. M. University, Ramapuram Campus, Chennai was the
Local Coordinator of the Workshop.
DELNET Workshop in collaboration with Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi, New Delhi was organised on May 5, 2017.Dr. Geetesh Nirban, Coordinator, IQAC, Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi, New Delhi was the
A one-day workshop in collaboration with Dr. O. P. Bhalla Central Library, Manav Rachna International University, Faridabad,Haryana was organised on July 29, 2017. Dr. Vikram Kumar Sharma, University Librarian, Manav Rachna International
University, Faridabad was the Local Coordinator of the Workshop.
A one-day workshop in collaboration with Kerala University of Fisheries & Ocean Studies (KUFOS), Kochi, Kerala wasorganised on August 2, 2017. Mr. V.S. Kunjumuhammed, Assistant Librarian, KUFOS, Kochi was the
A one-day workshop in collaboration with Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai, Tamil Nadu was organised on August 5,2017. Dr. S. Sridhar, Librarian, Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai was the Local Coordinator of the Workshop.
A one-day workshop in collaboration with ITM University, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh was organised onAugust 21, 2017. Mr. Vikas Dwivedi, Head Library, ITM University, Gwalior was the Local Coordinator of the Workshop.
A one-day workshop in collaboration with Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) Hyderabad, Telangana was organisedon September 8, 2017. Prof. N. Rupsing Naik, University Librarian, JNTU Hyderabad was the Local Coordinator of the Workshop.
A one-day workshop in collaboration with Aditya Engineering College, Surampalem, Andhra Pradesh was organised onSeptember 11, 2017. Mr. K. Ashok Kumar, Chief Librarian, Aditya Engineering College, Surampalem was the
A one-day workshop in collaboration with DAV University, Jalandhar, Punjab was organised on September 16, 2017.Ms. Maninder Kaur Sood, Assistant Librarian and Ms. Amandeep Kaur, Assistant Librarian, DAV University, Jalandhar were the
Local Coordinators of the Workshop.
Edited and published by Dr. H. K. Kaul, for DELNET - Developing Library Network, JNU Campus, Nelson Mandela Road, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi -110070.Printed by Dr. H. K. Kaul at Kaveri Printers, Darya Ganj, Delhi-110002. Assistant Editor : Dr. Sangeeta Kaul
R. No. 59477/94 l ISSN 0972-0790
workshop
Watch DELNET Silver Jubilee Documentary on Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Buz5n3YjHaM
