Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the initiative of the University Grants Commission of India in setting up the Infonet Digital Library Consortium (The Information and Library Network) in order to provide access to scholarly communication to the academic community in India. Design/methodology/approach: The context of higher…

India is a huge country with a population of more than 1 billion. In India, by tradition, education and learning are highly valued. In fact, India has one of the largest higher education systems in the world, with regard to the number of institutions. Education is a necessity. It is the most effective instrument with which to imbue people with the…

Purpose: To describe the development of the library management system, e-Granthalaya, for public libraries in India. This is an initiative of the Indian government's National Informatics Centre (NIC). The paper outlines the challenges and the potential of a full-scale deployment of this software at a national level. Design/methodology/approach:…

The author presents a history of library legislation in India and recommends the establishment of library networks by law to ensure an integrated service which will effectively serve all library patrons. (17 references) (SJ)

Discusses the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the digital divide in India. Considers the impact of information technologies, including the Internet and the Web, on the life and work of people; digital determinism; library and information infrastructure and superstructure; digital library initiatives; and the need…

Examines the information infrastructure and the impact of information technology in India. Highlights include attempts toward automation; library networking at the national and local level; descriptions of four major networks; library software; and constraints of networking in academic libraries. (LRW)

Profiles the national library network in India, including its history, governance, staff, holdings, users, facilities, circulation, and services. (FM)

The issue discusses the library services provided in the rural areas of India. It shows how Literacy House in Lucknow is attempting to meet the reading needs of new literates and focuses on book distribution problems and the use of Market Mobile Libraries and Bell Bicycle Libraries to meet the needs of the people in market places and remote…

Drawn from the 15th Annual Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing, held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the nine papers presented in this volume deal with problems--or, in some cases, downright failures--in the automation of various facets of library service. They range from a general survey of failures or limitations…

The author gives an account of past library movements in rural India and suggests that a network of rural libraries and reading rooms should be an important component of the National Adult Education Programme, as a means of reinforcing the effects of literacy education. (SK)

Describes the establishment of the documentation center and the projects it has undertaken: union catalog of social science periodicals and serials; bibliographies (Indian economic, Mahatma Gandhi, area studies, language); retrospective index of periodicals; compilation of indexes and bibliographies assisted by council in its grants-in-aid scheme;…

Reviews functions, growth, and performance of Indian national and public libraries and proposes a plan of action covering: administrative infrastructure, library legislation, library resources, resource utilization, depository libraries, resource sharing, public library clientele, role of private organizations, staffing pattern, financial…

Discusses the need for a medical and health sciences library network system in India to provide access to biomedical materials. The steps involved in network planning, implementation, and evaluation are outlined, and a hierarchical network model for India is proposed. (CLB)

The proposed 3-year project described in this paper would focus on the improvement of library service in colleges of education in the state of Karnataka through collection building. While staff, service, and budget problems are also cited, this project would emphasize the formulation of standards for collections and the development of a…

Purpose: To share the experiences gained during the migration of library data from one library management system (LibSys[TM]) to another (e-Granthalaya[TM]). Design/methodology/approach: The paper describes the step-by-step approach taken to migrate the existing library data to the new software. The paper also discusses the peculiarities of the…