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South Asia: Renovating the National Collection

A Guide to Selected Indian and Bangladesh Library and Information Resources


Science and Technology

Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC)
Bangladesh National Scientific & Technical Documentation Centre (BANSDOC)
Centre for the Development of Telematics
Indian Institute of Astrophysics
Indian Institute of Science
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras/Chennai
Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC)
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research
National Centre for Science Information (NCSI)
National Institute for Industrial Engineering (NITIE)
Raman Research Institute
South Asian Agriculture Research Council (SAARC) Agricultural Information Centre (SAAIC)
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Library (TIFR)
University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS)
Western Regional Instrumentation Centre (WRIC)

Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC)

New Airport Road,
Farm Gate,
Dhaka-15
BANGLADESH

Telephone: +880 2
Facsimile:
E-mail:
URL:

Contact Person/s: Mostaque Ahmed (Principle Librarian)

Institution

Background / History

The Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) was formed in 1973 under the Ministry of Agriculture. It is intended to be the peak agriculture research body in Bangladesh. They moved into the present premises in 1981. There are ten research institutes around the country run under BARC. Each of these has its own library with separate catalogues.

BARC also has a herbarium that collects and preserves plant species and a museum.

The South Asian Agriculture Research Council is housed in the same premises (see separate entry).

Funding

It is fully funded by the Bangladesh Government.

Library

The Library’s main clients are the agricultural scientists in the department, university agricultural researchers and researchers from non government organizations. The Librarian considers this the best agricultural library collection in the country.

Collection

There are 16,000 books, 2,000 volumes of bound journals and 200 current journal subscriptions. In addition, they hold 184 institutional publications both national and international. There is a textbook collection, a small audio visual collection, a collection of international theses and several CD Roms. The growth of the collection from year to year is determined by the funding available.

They use a UDC classified catalogue.

Staff

There are 6 staff in the Library, at present 2 of these are qualified librarians. There

are also 2 vacant positions.

Services

Experienced users are expected to use the library themselves but assistance is provided to the many less experienced users. There is a telephone reference service, photocopying facilities and an interlibrary loan service. A current awareness service was started in 1996 for BARC staff.

Automation

CD ISIS is used for the library system and all additions to the collection since 1989 are on the computer system. They are gradually adding the balance of the holdings.

Opening Hours and Access

Scholars visiting the country are welcome to use the library.

Publications

BARC has a range of publications including the Bangladesh Journal of Agriculture. A computer list of BARC publications has been complied and it is planned to have this available on the Internet in the near future.

Documents Held by the Project

  • Booklet: This is BARC: An Introduction to the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council.

Bangladesh National Scientific & Technical Documentation Centre (BANSDOC)

BCSIR Campus
Mirpur Road
Dhanmondi
Dhaka 1205
BANGLADESH

Telephone: +880 2 507235, 860224, 507196, 869949
Facsimile: +880 2 863900
E-mail: Inquiry@bansdoc.pradeshta.net
URL:

Contact Person/s: Dr. Md. Lutfur Rahman (Director)
Syed Robiul Bashar (Senior Librarian)

Institution

Background / History

BANSDOC started in 1962 as a branch office of the Pakistan National Scientific and Technical Documentation Centre (PANSDOC). In 1972 with the formation of Bangladesh it came under the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. It is now within the province of the Ministry of Science and Technology and fully funded by them.

It is the primary science and technology documentation centre in the country. There are three documentation centres under BANSDOC and under them individual institution libraries.

It is a member of the Regional Network for the Exchange of Information and Experience in Science and Technology in Asia and the Pacific (ASTINFO). In the past a large proportion of their document delivery requests were met by the National Library of Australia under a UNESCO/ ASTINFO project.

Library

The collection has about 15,000 titles and it subscribes to 182 journals.

There are 15 staff in the library including six professionals.

It is a reference collection only, there are no loans. There is a telephone and mail reference query service and photocopying facilities are available.

Services

A Document Procurement Service locates and acquires on request copies of scientific papers published around the world. This is considered the most important service provided by BANSDOC. BANSDOC also acts as a coordinator to arrange translation of scientific papers and operates a Scientific Contact Service which attempts to put researchers in contact with others in the same field.

Other services provided by BANSDOC includes: a Bibliography Compilation service which compiles bibliographies on a given topic; a database creations service; a Inter-Library Lending Service and microfilm, microfiche slide and photocopying facilities.

Automation

BANSDOC is coordinating a project that will run from 1995 to 1998 to automate and network the science and technology libraries in the country. This is BANSLINK Bangladesh National Scientific and Library Information Network. BANSLINK will be the hub connecting a wide range of Bangladesh libraries to each other and the Internet. These libraries include: Universities, scientific and medical bodies and government departments.

Opening Hours and Access

BANSDOC is open from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. Scholars from Australia are welcome to use the Library’s facilities.

Publications

BANSDOC publishes a quarterly newsletter that has details of their publications. To date these include:

Survey of Research and Development Activities of Bangladesh

Current Scientific and Technological Research Projects of Bangladesh

Directory of Scientists and technologists of Bangladesh

Directory of Scientists and Technologists of Bangladesh living Abroad

Bangladesh Science and technology Abstracts

National Catalogue of Scientific and Technical Periodicals of Bangladesh

Science and Technology Information Newsletter (this is a current awareness service)

Documents Held by the Project

  • Bansdoc Science and technology Information Newsletter. Current Awareness Service volume 6 numbers 1-2 and 3-4.
  • Current Scientific and technological Research Projects of Bangladesh 1993
  • Directory of Scientists and technologists of Bangladesh 1989
  • Survey of Research and Development Activities of Bangladesh 1995
  • Directory of Scientists and Technologists of Bangladesh living Abroad 1994
  • Bangladesh Science and technology Abstracts Volume 19 1995
  • Pamphlet: Bangladesh National Scientific and Technical Documentation Centre

Centre for the Development of Telematics

Sneha Complex
71/1 Miller Road
Bangalore 560 052

Telephone: +91 80 2205842, +91 080 2263399
Facsimile: +91 80 2263256
E-mail: library@cdotb.ernet.in
URL:

Contact Person/s: Mr Prakash B. Hadagali
(Library Manager)

Institution

Background / History

C-DOT is charged with developing telecommunication technology for India within the Department of Telecommunications. It was established in 1984, the present office opened in 1985 and now has a combined staff in both Bangalore and Delhi of one thousand. C-DOT is involved in a telecommunications software project with Telstra Australia.

Funding

Central government via the Department of Telecommunications.

Library

The Library is managed via a library committee which has C-DOT and Departmental representatives for the development of rules, regulations, products, technology and direction of acquisitions. It is Open to staff from the C-DOT, government officials from relevant agencies and testing centres. There are approximately five hundred users.

Collection

The collection focuses on computing, telecommunications, management, telematics and informatics, technology and engineering. About six hundred additions are added to the collection each year. Material is periodically withdrawn as currency of information is critical to the business of C-DOT. The audiovisual material in the collection on VHS cassettes includes some agency productions which are largely product oriented and promotional.

In 1995 the periodical collection included a total of three hundred titles. Up to 1992 military standards were collected on microfiche. Now, ninety percent are provided on CD-ROM. Confidential documents and publications generated by the Department are also housed in the Library.

The library uses a Depth Schedule which is a classification system developed for the C-DOT collection. It uses four digits with decimals. A colour labeling system is used to distinguish between loan and reference materials.

Departmental staff are able to borrow from the general collection for one month and from the reference collection for fifteen days. There are no loans of technical journals. There is a library committee made up of user’s representatives who help decide what will be included in the collection.

Staff

There is a manager and two part-time professional staff as well as several other library staff.

The Delhi branch of the organization also has a library which is run separately

Services

Services offered include a Selected Dissemination of Information Service (SDI ) which circulates the content page services from incoming journals to department staff and a daily newspaper clipping service from Indian papers relating to telecommunications. These are extracted from three hundred titles. Files are circulated then kept by the Library for one year before disposal.

There is a microfiche reader with printing capacity, E-mail information distribution,

free photocopying and a video-recorder and player with television.

Automation

The library uses LibSys and an indexing database.

Opening Hours and Access

Opening hours can be obtained directly from the librarian. Permission to visit the library must be obtained in advance and security is high with visitors having to register before entering the library. No electronic equipment is allowed to be brought into the library.

Publications

The Centre publishes C DOT DSS, a monographic series and some in-publications such as bibliographies.

Documents Held by the Project

  • Examples of Newspaper service and clipping service
  • Copy of article written by Library manager
  • Publicity material

Indian Institute of Astrophysics

Koramangala
Bangalore 560 034
INDIA

Telephone: +91 80 530672, 530676
Facsimile:
E-mail: library@iiap.ernet.in
E-mail: vagiiap@iiap.ernet.in ( Ms A Vagiswari)
URL: http://202.41.67.151/~library

Contact Person/s: Ms A Vagiswari (Librarian)

Institution

Background / History

This National Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics runs four major observatories; the main optical telescope at Kodaikanal Observatory, the solar observatory at Vainnu Bappu Observatory, Kavalur, and the radio telescope at Gauribidanur. The Institute is the direct descendent of the Madras Observatory founded in the late eighteenth century. The first hand-written library catalogue dates from this time.

Funding

It is 100 percent funded by Department of Science and Technology.

Library

The Institute operates libraries at Bangalore, Vainu Bappu and Kodaikanal.

Each specialises in the particular needs of the staff at these locations, for example, astrophysics, observational astronomy and solar astronomy. There is no library at the radio telescope.

Collection

The collection includes 13,000 books and 20,000 bound volumes of serials. In addition, a large number of international observation records are held. Most of these were obtained on exchange. Four hundred of the books in the collection date from before the 20th century. There is a microfilm and slide collection to support lectures and talks given by members of the faculty. Material is catalogued using a thesaurus jointly created by astronomy librarians throughout the world, including the Institute Librarian (Ms Vagiswari).

Staff

The staff consists of 2 professional librarians and four aides. The Institute Librarian has a large degree of operational autonomy but is also supported by a library committee to assist with book selection.

Services

There is an Inter-library loan service which is facilitated by close cooperation between astronomy libraries.

Automation

The Library is completely automated using LibSys. All retrospective conversion of the catalogue has been completed. Access is available to the catalogues from all offices via the local area network (LAN).

Opening Hours and Access

The Library is open from Monday to Saturday (9.00 am to 5.30 pm) except for holidays. In addition, observatory staff and students have access to the library at all times but library staff are only available during normal working hours.

Publications

The Institute publishes the proceedings of conferences held at the Institute but staff publish their research in internationally refereed journals.

Documents Held by the Project

  • Guide to the library (1992)

Indian Institute of Science

J.R.D. Tata Memorial
Library
Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore 560 012
INDIA

Telephone: Institute +91 80 3344411
Library ext 2407 and 2408
Facsimile:
E-mail:
URL: http://ece.iisc.ernet.in/iisc.html http://144.16.72.
150/ncsi/library.html;
http://www.library.iisc.ernet.in

Contact Person/s: Mr N.M. Malwad (Librarian)
Professor D. Padmanabhan (Institute Director)

Institution

Background / History

The Institute was established in 1909. The Indian Institute of Science is the oldest institution devoted to the pure sciences and engineering in the country. They have close links with space, defence and astronomy research organisations.

They offer a range of Masters, Doctoral and Post Doctoral courses in science and engineering. Currently two thousand four hundred students in forty-two departments are enrolled. Strict competitive admission programs are conducted in fourteen centres nationally and from these between one in fifty applicants are successful in gaining entrance.

Funding

The Institute is a deemed university under the Ministry of Human Resources and Development.

Library

The library was established in 1911 and was renamed “J.R.D. Tata Memorial Library” in May 1994. It is one of the largest and most well regarded scientific and technical libraries in India. Its aim is to develop a comprehensive collection of material to support the work of the faculty and students.

Collection

The collection consists of a total of 150,000 books and manuals, 145,000 bound volumes of periodicals, over 4000 theses, 85,000 reports and microform materials. Of the 1500 periodical titles collected, 300 of these are received on donation or exchange.

There are significant holdings of Indian and international Standards. The library is a depository for all Indian patents from number one onwards. However, the technical report collection is not comprehensive and is largely material relevant to the aerospace division.

The material is arranged using Dewey Decimal Classification.

Funding

The 1994-95 budget was 40 million rupees and continues to grow by 30 per cent due to inflation and the devaluation of the Rupee. Ordinary grants cover the running cost of the library but the development of the collection is funded largely by money set aside from earnings accruing from sponsored research projects.

The Indian Institute of Science is recognized as the regional centre for higher mathematics by the National Board for Higher Mathematics (NBHM) and receives a recurring grant of 400,000 rupees for books and journals in the field of Mathematics and allied subjects.

Staff

The library has a staff 70 including 22 professionals.

Services

The services provided include document supply and photocopying. The Library is a major contributor to the Indian National Scientific Documentation service (INSDOC) and the National Centre for Science Information (NCSI).

Corporate membership is available for a fee of 5,000 rupees. Currently over 120 organizations have taken membership.

Automation

All Institute computers are routed to the Internet via a local area network (LAN) which is connected campus-wide by optical fibre. The Institute has a separate priority power line which ensures an uninteruptable supply.

They have been using LibSys since 1983. New items added to the collection since then have been entered on-line. Retrospective conversion has been in process for the last ten years. Records are regularly downloaded from the United States Library of Congress database. The on-line public access catalogue (OPAC) has fourteen terminals. In addition, academic staff are able to remotely access the catalogue.

At present, a team from IBM is working at the Institute on a new project to set up a digital library. They hope to have a pilot program operating by March 1997. This will allow the library to make available these resources to the Asia-Pacific region.

Opening Hours and Access

The Library is open from Monday to Saturday (8.00 am to 11.00 pm), Sunday (9.00 am to 5.00 pm) and on holidays from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm.

Publications

The Journal of the Indian Institute of Sciences, which has been published for over 75 years, is edited by Library staff. It is subsidised by the Institute and covers its research activities. Six hundred copies are printed and half of these are used in exchange programs with other institutions.

Documents Held by the Project

  • Souvenir handout from 15th Annual Convention and Conference of the Society for Information Science on Digital Libraries 18-20 January 1996.
  • Handout about library services
  • Copy of Scampus Magazine. The student’s magazine of the Institute of Science

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay

Powai
Mumbai/Bombay

Telephone: +91 22 578 2545, 578 6530 (extn. 3669)
Facsimile: +91 22 578 3480
E-mail: sashi@indus.library.iib.ernet.in (Librarian)
otsk@indus.library.iitb.ernet.in (Asst. Librarian)
URL:

Contact Person/s: Mrs Subbarao (Librarian),
T.S. Kumbar (Assistant Librarian)

Institution

Background / History

This is one of five Institutes of Technology (IITs) in India. It is located approximately one hour’s drive from the centre of Mumbai/Bombay. The main objective of the institute is higher education, research and training in the fields of science and technology. IIT Bombay was established in 1958 with cooperation from UNESCO’s Technical Assistance Program. Students come from all parts of India to study at the Institute and students positions there are highly competitive.

There are nine departments:

Aeronautical, chemical, civil, computer science, mechanical, metallurgical engineering, physics, humanities and social sciences, chemistry, mathematics, industrial design and earth science. There are also seven inter disciplinary groups and other centres. All departments and groups offer Ph.D, Masters and undergraduate programs. Approximately seven hundred students graduate from the Institute annually. Industry involvement is encouraged with sponsored research and consultancy in the areas of science and engineering.

Funding

The Institute is funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC).

Library

Collection

The collection consists of over 300,000 volumes which includes nearly 200,000 books plus the Technology Lending Library Collection, bound periodicals, reports, standards and pamphlets and over 150 educational videos. They also have fifty eight CD-ROM databases.

Funding

Two hundred and ten million rupees are spent on journal subscriptions each year. In addition they also receive about one hundred gift subscriptions each year.

Services

The range of services offered include inter library loans, a document delivery service across India and photocopying. These services are particularly strong because of the large degree of co-operation between the five Indian IIT’s.

The library displays all papers written by academic staff and holds a video collection of lectures. The library also offers Contents Alert, a program designed by students which matches profiles of academic staff interests with the publication Current Contents. The program automatically emails relevant journal article details to academic staff. A similar system, known as Ref Alert informs academics about the latest reference books acquired by the library.

Automation

The library has an in- house computer system developed from the commercial database product FoxPro2. The system is mounted on a Pentium server and has twenty one nodes and eleven printers. It has an On-line Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) module (called MEHMAN) available. Systems Support for the library is undertaken by the Computing Department.

Opening Hours and Access

The library is open from 8:00 am to 11:00 pm Monday to Friday and 10:00 am to 5:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Scholars and researchers from overseas are welcome to use the Library but not take out loans.

Documents Held by the Project

  • Guide to IIT Mumbai/Bombay
  • Library profile

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras/Chennai

Central Library
11T PO
Madras 600 036
INDIA

Telephone:
Facsimile:
E-mail:Lib@iitm.ernet.in
URL: http://www.iitm.ernet.in/
Telegraphic address: MADRAS-600 036
Telex: 041 8926 IITM IN

Contact Person: Dr. Harish Chandra (Librarian)

Institution

Background / History

Founded in 1959 IIT Madras is one of six Indian Institutes of Science. The institute has over seven thousand staff and four thousand students. The institute offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science and technology. It also conducts training programmes for polytechnic teachers.

Funding

Ministry of Human Resources Development and assisted by the World Bank

Library

Collection

The collection numbers in excess of 90,000 and includes monographs and serials in both English and Tamil. There is also a substantial component of the collection in German. Sixty per cent of the collection is serial and forty percent monographs. The collection is classified under the UDC classification system and catalogued according to AACR2. The collection is developed by an advisory library committee that meets and discusses acquisitions, policy and planning matters and the library budget. Acquisitions are sourced using both local Indian and International book suppliers.

Funding

Library funding for acquisitions totals 10 million rupees per annum. Three million rupees for monographs seven million rupees for periodicals.

Staff

There are 90 staff including one university librarian, two deputy librarians, four assistant librarians (ie divisional) and senior professional librarians and seven professional librarians.

Services

Services include: reference; desktop publishing; Inter-Library-Loan; audiovisual resources (including videos recorded by IIT departments of lectures and seminars and radio recordings); microform printing; photocopying;. CD-ROM and on-line databases, (including a database of Madras PhD thesis ); Conference alert service; contents page service.

Automation

The library operates a computerized catalogue system developed in-house by the Institute’s computer department system. This same department is also developing a database of Indian and overseas libraries (mostly scientific and technology libraries),.which the library intends to mount on the Internet via a homepge.

Opening times and access

The library is open 8:00 am to 10:30 pm Monday to Friday; 9:00 am to 7:00 pm Sunday; 9:00 am to 5:30 pm Saturday and 9:00 am to 5:30 pm public holidays. Overseas scholars and researchers are allowed access to the library but must apply to the library before arrival. They should also include a letter of introduction from their institution, preferably from the head of department.

Publications

Campus news: Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai

International Journal of Mathematical and Physical Sciences (ISSN 0047 2557)

Journal of Mathematical and Physical Sciences

Documents Held by the Project

  • Central Library Rules and Regulations brochure, 1994.
  • Central Liberia: a Guide to its Organisation and Service, 1994
  • Research, Consultancy Expertise and Facilities, Central Library promotional brochure, 1996.
  • Handbook, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, 1996.
  • The Booksellers and Publisher’s Association of South India: Directory of Members, Chennai, 1996.

Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC)

14, Satsang Vihar Marg,
Off S.J.S. Sansanwal Marg
Special Institutional Area
New Delhi 110 067
INDIA

Telephone: +91 11 660141, 660143, 660162, 660165, 660189
Facsimile: +91 11 6862228
E-mail: mcs@sirnet.ernet.in
URL:

Contact: Dr R.P.S. Dhaka (Head of Programme Management and Marketing Group)
Professor T. Vishwanathan (Director)

Institution

Background / History

INSDOC was established with the assistance of UNESCO in 1952 for the purpose of supplying scientific and technical information to research scholars and to the Indian research and development (R&D) sector. The three main services supplied by INSDOC are bibliographic, document supply and translation services. For the period 1952 to 1965, INSDOC was the sole source of such information to the scientific and technical sectors in India. It continues to act as a repository for Indian science and technology information as well as carrying some overseas information.

The increase in volume of information in the 1960s and 1970s made the task virtually impossible for a single institution and this resulted in the diversification and the development of sectional information centres across India (eg atomic, leather, space, agriculture). There are now 30 designated information centres in the country as well as two hundred universities supporting the dissemination of technical and scientific information.

INSDOC activities also include training in Library and Information Science technology. They provide 120 specific short-term courses for both junior and senior level librarians in the areas of library automation, technological implementation and information systems management.

Funding:

Funding is via the Council of Scientific Research and external cash flows. The external cash flow has increased by forty-five per cent over the last twelve months.

Staff

There are approximately 300 staff including: 120 scientists (50 per cent of which work on projects); 85 library professionals and 12 translators. Staff are predominantly full-time but contractor staff are also used. The majority of staff ( approximately 220) are based in the Delhi office and there are 60 to 70 others in Calcutta, Bangalore and Madras.

Services

Pilot Electronic Library. Access to foreign publications is often a problem in India - the expense and delay in arrival simply means material cannot or is not offered. In an to counter this, INSDOC is developing an electronic library facility of foreign periodicals on CD-ROM. The service is essentially one of document delivery for Inter-Library-Loan requesters and local users. A nominal fee is charged for this service.

Translation services are available from INSDOC for 18 languages into English, including most Indian languages, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and German.

INSDOC also provides a Contents, Abstracting and Photocopying Service (CAPS). India produces an estimated 2500 periodical titles of which there are 1200 science and technology titles. INSDOC collects, abstracts and indexes these and produces a 2 weekly service which are also available in an electronic format.

Other services include: library automation and database design; computer networking, e-mail provision; electronic archival storage; full-text journal photocopying service; patent watch service (monitors world-wide patents); global tender watch Service; book indexing service; electronic imaging service; reprography service (both in microfilm and microfiche); desk-top publishing and technical and scientific reference service.

Automation

INSDOC is full automated.

Publications

NUCSS. National Union Catalogue of Scientific Serials in India from 1994 [on CD-ROM and available for Rs 6000 ,annual update Rs 1000]. A national union catalogue of 855 university, scientific institutions and specialised libraries with details of holdings for nearly 40,000 scientific serial titles.

Indian Science Abstracts(ISA). A semi-monthly abstracting service. Available in machine readable and print form. The database covers original science research works published in about 1,000 Indian journals from 1990.

INSDOC Serials Contents on Multi-Media (ISCOMM). A database that covers the current contents pages of about 1,000 Indian journals in science and technology available in the National Science Library of INSDOC. Available on-line with options for diskette, hardcopy, e-mail and fax.

Documents Held by the Project

  • Annual Report 1994 - 95, Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre, 1995.
  • Prospectus and Syllabus 1996: Associateship in Information Science, 1996.
  • INSDOC: One-stop S & T Information Shop, Services and Charges Information Pack, 1996.

International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research

GPO Box 128
Dhaka 1000
Bangladesh

Telephone: +880 2 882467, 600171, 600271, 600272
Facsimile: +880 2 883116, 880 2 886050
E-mail: msil%cholera@external.alt.ac.th
URL:

Contact Person/s: M. Shamsul Islam Khan (Head
Dissemination and Information Services Centre)

Library

Background / History

This is a specialized library focusing on medical information and demography.

Funding

Funding comes from donor agencies outside Bangladesh.

Collection

Approximately fifty per cent of the collection deals with demography. In addition to demography the collection is strong health sciences and water sanitation. The collection is open access although it is meant only for the staff of the institute. In practice many students from Dhaka University use the collection, especially for material on microbiology, pharmacy and chemistry. In addition, many individuals from Non Government Organizations (NGOs) also use the collection, as do medical professionals.

There are 29,000 books and bound periodicals with 390 current journals currently received. They have the CD-ROM’s POPLINE since its inception and AIDS.

Staff

Ten staff work in the information centre, including those in the publication centre.

Services

Although the collection does overlap with some other libraries in the city there is broad cooperation among similar libraries in Dhaka, especially with BIDS. They maintain inter-library loan links with several libraries, all in Dhaka and also with some non government organizations. Inter-library loan services are free, however, photocopying is not. Students pay 100 taka for an annual membership.

The Centre also offers training to eight to ten library science graduates each year, some for 15 day courses and some for three months.

Automation

The Institution has email and an institutional home page, based at IDLC in Singapore. A home page for the library and information services centre is planned. The library, does not have an e-mail connection as yet, when the institutional local area network is established this will be provided. The computer facilities have recently been reviewed but no decision has yet been made about future developments. If the Pan-Asia network to be set up by IDLC eventuates this institute’s database will be included.

Opening Hours and Access

The Centre is open from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm from Saturday to Thursday. They are closed on Friday and public holidays. Overseas researchers can use the library for a short period with prior arrangement with the Librarian.

Publications

They publish a fortnightly bulletin that details new acquisitions and highlights important articles (abstracts of important articles are also included). There are 45 paid foreign subscriptions to this bulletin that costs US $30 per year. It is distributed free to National Institutes.

In addition they also publish:

Their Annual report, The Journal of Diarrhoeal diseases (ISSN 0253-8768), quarterly, a Newsletter in Bengali with twenty-five thousand copies distributed in Bangladesh and a Newsletter in English with five thousand copies distributed.

Other information

Mr M. Shamsul Islam Khan is currently President of the Library Association of Bangladesh. Mr Khan indicated he could assist with the sourcing of material published in Bangladesh.

Documents Held by the Project

  • Annual Report 1995
  • Fauveau, v. (ed.) Matlab: Women, Children and Health. International Centre for Diarroeal Disease Research, Dhaka. 1994.
  • Maloney, C. Ashraful Aziz, K.M. P.C. Sarker. Beliefs and Fertility in Bangladesh. International Centre for Diarroeal Disease Research, Dacca. 1981.
  • Manual of Treatment and Prevention of Diarrhoea. International Centre for Diarroeal Disease Research, Dhaka. 1984.
  • Publications list
  • Library guide
  • DISC Bulletin Volume 20 1996
  • Glimpse. International Centre for Diarroeal Disease Research. Volume 18, Number 3 September 1996.

National Centre for Science Information (NCSI)

Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore 560 012
INDIA

Telephone: +91 80 3344271, 3092511, 3092654,
3092655
Facsimile: +91 80 3315426, 3341683
E-mail: help@ncsi.iisc.ernet.in
E-mail: raja@ncsi.iisc.ernet.in (Dr.Rajashekar)
URL: http:/memex.ncsi.ernet.in
URL: http://144.16.72.150/

Contact Person/s: Dr. (Mr) T.B. Rajashekar (Principal
Research Scientist)

Institution

Background / History

The Centre is an inter-university centre for science information which was started in 1983 to provide a large-scale current awareness service using selective dissemination of information via bibliographic databases on magnetic tapes. It is basically a complement to the library of the Institute. CD-ROM and other on-line databases have been introduced and the Centre has started network based information services. They also undertake sponsored research and development and consultancy work.

Library

See Indian Institute of Science Bangalore.

Funding

They receive University Grants Commission (UGC) funding.

Staff

There is a staff of about 20 people. Each year they recruit six information professionals who undergo training.

Services

An “info-watch” service broadcasts to faculty and students new developments in their subject area. Information is retrieved from database(s) and is disseminated to staff and students for a nominal handling fee. Access to the service can be from anyone of the thousand networked PCs on the IISc campus. Information is profile based, either journal contents pages or complete articles. Companies can also use the service but they only receive on-line searching services not complete articles.

Automation

Computer infrastructure includes 20 machines of which two are UNIX based. A local area network connects PC s and the UNIX machines which allows access to a resource catalogue and a CD-ROM server across the campus. All machines are connected to the Internet via a web server.

Opening Hours and Access

Contact Centre for details.

Documents Held by the Project

  • Document delivery service sheet
  • Information services for scientific and engineering research sheet
  • Internet Search Service request form

National Institute for Industrial Engineering (NITIE)

Vehar Lake
Mumbai/Bombay 400 087
INDIA

Telephone: +91 22 8523371 (Ext. 236)
Facsimile: +91 22 5783251
Telex: 022 72324
Telegram: NITIE, Bombay-76
E-mail:
URL:

Contact Person/s: Ms Chitra P.(Senior Librarian)

Institution

Background / History

NITIE was established as a national institute in 1963 by the Indian Government with assistance from the United Nations Development Program through the International Labour Office. It is the only one of its kind in India. It works closely with industry all over India and is administered by nominees from the Central Government National Productivity Council, the All India Council of Technical Education and Workers Organization, Technical Institutes and professional bodies. It has two extension centres at Hyderabad and Madras.

The Chair person is Shri P.S. Chaudhuri and the Director is Thomas Mathew.

NITIE offers short programs and postgraduate diplomas to managers and engineers as well as special programs designed to meet specific requirements of particular organizations. A percentage of places is reserved for the scheduled caste/tribe candidates.. There are between one hundred and fifty to two hundred students each year. NITIE also conducts seminars and undertakes research involving adapting industrial techniques to suit Indian conditions.

Funding

The institution is funded by the Central Government, however some additional funding for courses comes from industry.

Library

Collection

The collection comprises more than 47,000 thousand books and 9,000 bound volumes and an unknown number of industry reports. It has nearly two hundred current serial subscriptions in a few very specialized areas such as industrial engineering, behavioral science, computer science, finance and personnel management. It also has a small collection of Hindi reading material and light recreational reading for staff and residential students.

The Institute has an audiovisual section separate from the Library with over two hundred training films, slides etc.

There is an acquisitions budget of 2.5 million rupees, 1.8 millon for journals and 700,000 for books. Recommendations for additions to the collections come from both academic staff and students.

The library uses Library of Congress subject headings and adds three or four other headings to ensure retrieval. Dewey Decimal Classification is used to arrange the material.

Staff

The staff consists of six professional staff and fifteen non professionals.

Services

The Library has an inter library loan agreement with all major academic and industrial libraries in Mumbai/Bombay but the Librarian maintains that because of the specialized nature of the courses the vast majority of needs are satisfied from the Library’s collection. Loan periods are fifteen days for students and six months for academic staff.

Automation

The library uses the LibSys system to manage the collection. It no longer produces catalogue cards but regularly produces a printed list of the collection as a backup if the system goes down.

The library is not connected to any network beyond the library building, however, there are plans to develop a network capability within the next two years. Once this is completed an Internet site will be developed.

The Library has five CD-ROM databases and also belongs to an informal CD-ROM group which shares CD-ROM facilities with other local libraries. If a search is needed it is done at the site that holds the CD-ROM and the results faxed. Therefore, the Libraries do not need to duplicate CD-Roms that one of the libraries in the group holds.

Opening Hours and Access

The Library is open from 9 am to 10 pm every day.

Outsiders are welcome to use the library for one or two days. Above that, a person who has an acceptable reason can join the library for 1,000 rupees per year. Contact the library for more information.

Publications

The Institute publishes UDYOG PRAGATI a journal.

Documents Held by the Project

  • Post grad Programme in Industrial Engineering guide
  • Post grad Programme in Industrial Management for Engineering Graduates guide
  • Unit based programme for Industry guide
  • Guide to NITIE
  • Executive development Programme guide
  • Senior Executive program guide

Raman Research Institute

Telephone:
Facsimile:
E-mail: girija@rri.ernet.in
E-mail: library@rri.ernet.in
URL:

Contact Person/s: Ms Girija Srinivasan

Institution

Background / History

The Institute was founded in 1949 by Dr. Raman as a private research institution after his retirement from the Indian Institute of Science. There are two hundred and fifty staff including twenty five faculty members. They have twenty five Ph.D. students.

Funding

The Department of Science and Technology funds the institute.

Library

Collection

The collection concentrates on fundamental physics and astronomy. It consists of 20,000 volumes and subscribes to 150 journals. The collection was started with 7,000 volumes collected by Dr. Raman which forms part of a special collection.

There is cooperative serial sharing agreement with the Indian Institute of Astrophysics library and a cooperative buying scheme with the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research (TIFR) Mathematics Department.

Funding

Over 500,000 rupees is spent each year on books and over five million rupees on journals.

Services

The library provides an inter library loan service.

Automation

Automated with LibSys. Access is available to the catalogues from all offices through the Local Area Network (LAN).

Opening Hours and Access

The library is open from morning to late evening. Check with library.


South Asian Agriculture Research Council (SAARC) Agricultural Information Centre (SAAIC)

BARC Complex,
New Airport Road,
Farm Gate,
Dhaka-1215
BANGLADESH

Telephone: +880 2 815353, 325061
Facsimile: +880 2 813032
E-mail:
URL:

Contact Person/s: Dr. M. Zahangir Kabir (Director)
Dr. S. S. Srivastava (Deputy Director Library Services)
B.N. Karmacharya (Deputy director Publications)

Institution

Background / History

This is the coordinating body for the national centres of agriculture in each of the South Asian countries. It was formed in 1989 with the objective of sharing information about all branches of agriculture, livestock, fisheries and forestry. There are planning agents in each country.

Funding

The host country, Bangladesh, provides capital costs and other infrastructure. The cost of the programs are shared by the member countries.

Staff

SAIC has seven professional staff including four deputy directors, one librarian, one computer programmer and one reprographic specialist. There are also 34 support staff.

The organization is divided into four functional sections:

Information Section

This section designs information systems to meet the needs of SAARC countries. It processes information as needed. For example, it offers a current awareness service on demand from Current Contents using established research profiles.

Publication Section

This section is responsible for editing and publishing the work of the organization. The quarterly newsletter SAIC Newsletter has details of their publications including prices. Agricultural Institutions in SAARC countries, 2nd rev ed. 1996 US $ 15.00 is a recent publication. They have also compiled and will make available several databases such as their most recent on biotechnology. They indicated that a publications list was available on disk on request.

Computer Section

This section creates databases on relevant topics such as a national agricultural bibliography that has eleven thousand records. They are also creating a union catalogue of agricultural serial holdings in South Asia. One of the databases available is on fishing in the region. It was complied in association with The Fisheries Research Institute. They also provide access to CD ROM databases. They reported that due to a lack of funds in recent years subscriptions to some databases had been canceled. They plan to have an Internet connection very soon and will have a web page.

Library and Reprography Section

This consists of microfiche, microfilm and slide collections on relevant subjects produced from member publications, newspaper articles, journals and theses. They have facilities to produce these for sale as needed.

Opening Hours and Access

Contact Centrefor details.

Documents Held by the Project

  • SAARC Agricultural Information Centre Annual Report 1994-95

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Library (TIFR)

TIFR
Homi Bhabha Road
Colaba
Mumbai/Bombay 400 005
INDIA

Telephone: +91 22 215 2971 (ext. 2230)
Facsimile: +91 22 215 2110
E-mail: maya@tifrvax.tifr.res.in
URL:

Contact Person/s: Dr. Maya Avasia (Librarian)

Institution

Background / History

The Institute was founded in 1947 by Homi Bhabha, a well known Indian scientist, artist and thinker. He was interested in nuclear energy and saw the need for a centre of excellence to specialize in nuclear science and mathematics.

In Mumbai/Bombay TIFR has two departments specializing in nuclear physics and mathematics. There is also a branch of the Institute in Bangalore specialising in Biomedical sciences and in Pune which specailises in astrophysics.

Research activities focus on fundamental research in their main areas of interest. The institute offers Ph.D. and postdoctoral courses and has a number of visiting fellows.

Funding

The operating budget is funded by the Department of Atomic Energy. The institute appears to be very well resourced with spacious buildings funded by the Tata Trust. Funding for projects is competitive and tend be controlled by the Institute.

Library

Collection

The library considers themselves to be the best library in its field in India. The collection of mathematics books and serials is extensive. They have a shared acquisition project with another library specializing in nuclear energy in Mumbai/Bombay, but only in non-core material.

Funding

They have excellent funding for acquisitions but limited funding for staff. Consequently, staff numbers have failed to keep pace with the growing collection

Automation

TIFR has a fully computerized library system using the LibSys system. All retrospective conversion has been completed but a quality control program is checking catalogue detail. There is one On-line Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) terminal but staff have direct access to the library catalogue from their workstations.

Opening Hours and Access

Contact library direct for Opening Hours and Access information.

Publications

While the institute does not publish any journals, its staff widely publish in international journals. A list of staff publications is included in the annual report each year.

Documents Held by the Project

  • Fifty years at the Frontiers of Science 1945-1995
  • Annual report 1994-95

University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS)

GKVK Campus
Bangalore 560 065
INDIA
Hebbal Campus
Bangalore 560 024
INDIA

Telephone: +91 80 3330153, 3330158
Facsimile:
E-mail:
URL: http://apollo.ahabs.wisc.edu/individuals/students/dasika/UAS.html

Contact Person/s: Mr K. Somashekar; (Deputy Librarian GKVK Campus)
Mr D. Venkatesh (Deputy Librarian at Hebbal Campus)

Institution

Background / History

The University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) was created in 1963 by an act of the Mysore Legislature. The university supports education in various branches of agriculture, conducts research and undertakes the extension of agricultural scientific services to the rural population of the Karnataka. In 1986 the UAS split into two, the UAS Bangalore and the UAS Dharwad.

Funding

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is the university’s main funding body with some additional funds from a state grant.

Library

The departmental libraries of the colleges of Agriculture and Veterinary science within the original institution were merged in 1966-67 to create the University Library. In 1976 the Library moved to a new building at the Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra (GKVK), leaving part of the collection at the Hebbal campus library. The Hebbal campus concentrates on animal sciences while the GKVK near Bangalore specializes in mainly in plant sciences. There are also six colleges affiliated with the UAS, each with a specialised library. Mangalore (fisheries), Mandya (agricultural), Mudigere (horticulture), Shimoga (agriculture), Chintamani (Sericulture) and Ponnampet (forestry).

Collection

The collection at the Bangalore campuses consists of 80,000 books, over 50,000 bound volumes of periodicals, 10,000 pamphlets, over 4000 theses and 12,000 technical reports. The library currently subscribes to 700 periodical titles. The collection is almost entirely in English.

The collection is catalogued using Dewey Decimal Classification and is available via card catalogue only. The theses collection is catalogued separately.

Staff

GKVK campus employ twenty staff and Hebbal campus approximately ten.

Services

Services include the compilation of subject bibliographies for staff and research students and are based on periodicals held by the library. A list of completed bibliographies is available in the library handout. Photocopying facilities are provided at both campuses. The library provides letters of introduction for staff and students needing to use relevant collections at other libraries (for example, the Indian Institute of Horticulture).

Automation

An automation program for both campuses is expected to commence in late 1997. There are also plans for a Local Area Network (LAN) to connect colleges and the campuses of UAS as well as plans to establish an Agricultural Research Information System. GKVK campus has two agriculture CD-ROM databases and Hebbal campus has a single Personal Computer which was not yet in use.

Opening Hours and Access

The Library is open from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm weekdays, 8.30 am to 4.00 pm on Saturdays, 8.00 am to 12 noon on Sundays.

Publications

UAS publishes: The Mysore journal of agricultural sciences, Current research (newsletter); Krishi vignana (quarterly Kannada language agricultural journal); an Annual report and a number of text-books published in Kannada under the Government of India Text-book project (Department of Kannada studies). The Library publishes a Catalogue of theses (Bangalore, Dharwad and Mangalore campuses) First supplement 1985.

Documents Held by the Project

  • Copy of description of the Library
  • Annual report for 1995-6
  • Catalogue of Theses 1985

Western Regional Instrumentation Centre (WRIC)

University of Mumbai
Vidyanagari
Kalina Santacruz (East)
Mumbai/Bombay 400 098
INDIA

Telephone: +91 22 6122618, 6122630, 6128758 (Director)
Facsimile: +91 22 6125711, 6191351
E-mail: root%sirnetw@sirnetd.crnet.in
URL:

Contact Person/s: Dr. S.K. Mr Savanur

Institution

Background / History

The Western Regional Instrumentation Centre (WRIC)was established in 1978 and undertakes research and development of scientific instrumentation.

Funding

Funding comes from the University Grants Commission funding via the University of Mumbai/Bombay.

Library

The WRIC Library is a small but very efficient and well funded resource located on the ground floor of the institution’s building on the University of Mumbai’s Santacruz campus.

Collection

WRIC claims to have the best collection in India on scientific instrumentation. The library collection is mainly used by the Department of Physics University of Mumbai although there are plans to allow local industry to use the collection in the future. The collection of about 3,600 books, and 20 journal titles is exclusively in the English language. There is an effort to avoid any duplication of material held in other scientific library collections in Mumbai/Bombay. Also included in the collection are fifty videos cassettes which are training materials from the Instruments Society of America. The collection is catalogued using AACR2 and the DDC Classification system.

Staff

The WRIC Library has three staff, two professional and one para-professional.

Services

Service offered include the provision of photocopies. A video recorder and television are available for viewing recordings. They offer inter library loans via fax.

Automation

The WRIC Library is fully automated with its own software based on FOXPRO. This was developed by WRIC staff themselves. The system is currently only available from a standalone PC in the Library but there is are longer-term plans to join INFLIBNET (see entry) when automation is completely operational. There is an On-line Public Access Catalogue, on-line cataloguing modules (monograph and serial), an on-line WRIC library users’ guide, and restricted access to administrative features such as circulation system, forms and letters, acquisitions reports, labels, stock checking for audit purposes and serial check-in. There is a CD-ROM drive attached to the PC and a collection of CD-ROM products which are regularly used by the staff for cataloguing as well as reference services.

Opening Hours and Access

For opening hours and visiting scholar access contact the librarian in charge.

Special Projects

With its association with INSDOC (see entry), the WRIC Library takes on projects on a case basis. Most recently was the classification of 100,000 trademarks of India using the International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks as a model. Visual dictionaries were used and computer applications were created by WRIC staff for this task and has resulted in very useful and valuable resource for researchers as well as designers and business.

Documents Held by the Project

  • Information Services guide

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Last updated 23 December 1998
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