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Social media has emerged as a pivotal technological tool for libraries, enabling them to promote resources, services, and online offerings effectively. Many scholars and experts worldwide are trying hard and fast to explore the possibilities of an effective library social media presence. This paper systematically reviews 25 studies from the last six years (2018-2023) available in the area of social media application in libraries. PRISMA guidelines have been used to filter and select the most relevant literature to present a holistic and tangible view of the contemporary level of social media amalgamation in libraries. The chosen articles represent the numerous social media platforms available for libraries, the challenges in incorporating those platforms into monotonous services, and promotion and operative strategies to overcome those challenges. In the review, the library's social media practice revolves around three dimensions, i.e., communication, advertising, and services. Reference service is found to be the most preferred service through social media. Multiple factors, indicators, actions, and motivations have been found to strategize the libraries' social media incidence. This paper will provide a bird's eye view of the current status of library social media applications and help library professionals strategically select and utilize different social media platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to give a brief about the services provided by libraries to disable library users using software and hardware technologies. In this era, the development of technologies, information and communication technologies, etc., is widespread and being disseminated and published globally. Usually, it is convenient for a library professional to differentiate between individuals in need of assistance. This paper emphasises specialised equipment, technologies, and services that provide a barrier-free environment to the disabled users in libraries and information centres, leading to many technological innovations and advancements for general and disabled persons. This study will be helpful for persons with disabilities, LIS specialists, and other professional communities to provide information about the situation and the variety of assistive technologies available in libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focused a selective review of literature on the role of libraries on educational; social & cultural; economical and political development under the title 'A selective Review of Literature on Social Contribution of Libraries'. Libraries are changing their nature in the modern age and they offer their services to the user from various requirements of them and play a very important role in society. The library is considered as the heart of an educational institution as well as plays a role as the backbone of an educational institution. And also by offering various services, these libraries added value to education, social & cultural, economic, and political development. In this paper, the literature published on the social contribution of libraries is studied, analysed and, explained. The social contribution of libraries is crucial in the educational, social & cultural, economic and, political development of the nation. From this article scholars and researchers can understand how libraries play the important role in society and also aware of the literature available in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A quantitative and qualitative description of global research in "electronic journals" on a series of measures such as annual growth, global publications share, citations per paper, international collaborative papers, relative citation index, and activity index is presented. The study sourced data from SCOPUS database covering the period 1990-2017. Global research in the subject registered a fast 18.46 per cent publications growth, low-level citation rate of 5.28 citations per paper, and contributed just 26 highly cited papers during the period. The paper also describes the characteristics of highly cited papers in the subject. The study finds that the USA is the world leader with highest (45.28%) global publications share in the subject, followed by U.K. (12.18%), India (5.49%), etc. Secondly, the distribution of research across contributing organisations is of most scattered type. For instance, top 20 organisations in the subject contributed just a small 16.58 per cent global publications share during the period. The study concludes that the 'electronic journals' as an area of research is still in its nascent stage of growth and development both in terms of quality and quantity of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archives are the important information centre along with libraries and museums in respect to preservation of historical documents. And similar to libraries archives also exist in different categories like academic, special, governmental, newspaper and private archives. This article is dealing with one of this category and that is Special Archives. The research area that has been chosen for the data collection is central part of Kolkata. These archives are being studied to know how they are organising the documents and preserving them for future posterity. Finally, the paper tries to highlight the problems these traditional archives are facing in this digital era, especially handling of documents for digitising the archival materials. The problems are mainly related to skills and financial support for digitising the archival documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes a study of 12 university libraries of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab and UT Chandigarh with special reference to ICT applications. The response to the questionnaire and information available on university websites, show that 8 of the 12 libraries have distinct names. Chaudhry Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University has 99 branch libraries of different levels; Panjab University, Chandigarh more than 60; and University of Kashmir (UK) has 60 branch libraries. All the libraries have web presence, either through university website (8 no.) or direct (4). All the libraries have their own buildings of 3 to 8 floors with a seating capacity ranging from 200 to 1300. Universities have either campus wide Wi-Fi connectivity (6 libraries) or have partially completed the project (5 libraries). There are 100 computers each for users with internet connectivity in Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra and UK. Library membership varies between 887 in Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Science & Technology (AS&T) and 15,738 in Punjabi University, Patiala (PbiU). Total 92 persons are working in PbiU library and still has 63 % vacant positions at Assistant Librarian and above while smallest staff strength is in AS&T (10 persons). Largest collection of 6.5 lac books is in UK library which also has small number of audio and braille books. All the libraries are providing readers' guidance within library; OPAC search; reading room for personal books; online search by library staff and users themselves; photocopy service; book reservation and renewal services. The paper concludes that university libraries have acquired ICT infrastructure and digital resources, and are offering ICT-based services despite a general administrative apathy towards alarming condition of vacant positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the survey of libraries located in and around Chennai comprising of academic (government and private universities), public and special. The purpose of this paper is to present the state-of-the-art of the libraries and the specific objectives are to survey and compare the major academic, public and special libraries in and around Chennai with regard to the collection, manpower, resources (print and e-resources), and information and comminication technology (ICT)-based services, etc; to identify the issues and challenges being faced by the librarians and to offer suggestions and recommendations for the improvement of the libraries. A total of 32 libraries comprising of 9 government universities, 13 private universities, 3 public and 7 special have been considered for this survey. The data has been collected during January and mid-February 2015 based on a structured questionnaire. There exists variation in the infrastructure, print and e-resources and services (traditional and ICT-based) offered in the libraries of those institutions. Based on the results of the survey, a few suggestions and recommendations are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Open Access Movement (OAM), which started as a gradual realisation by authors mainly in biomedical sciences to make available results of public-funded research projects to the public without much barrier pertaining to cost, permission, copyright obligations, etc., gradually gained momentum across the world and India was no exception to it. Though the movement was confined mainly to science, technology and medical fields in India, since last few years, a number of open access repositories and open access journals in Social Science subjects have started appearing. The present study which is confined to the open access Social Science journals published from India as mentioned in the Directory of Open Access Journals, identified 60 open access Social Sciences journals in India. The study also analysed the journals on the basis of certain parameters as to trend of open access journals in Social Sciences, and was found that most of open access journals in Social Sciences appeared between 2009 and 2014 and about half of the journals charge authors for publishing their papers in the journals and only a few are published under Creative Commons Attribution. Lastly, the paper discusses about implications of open access publishing on Social Science research libraries made few suggestions towards encouraging open access publishing in Social Science subjects in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information communication technology playing a major role in transmitting idea, thought and information between one to another. Social networking websites are a good example of communication network and it is a social structure that lets the user interact and work collaboratively with other users. WhatsApp is a free instant messenger application that allows users to send text messages and multimedia files. In this paper, an online survey was conducted to measure usability of WhatsApp for service delivery in the libraries and information centres. A random sample was selected from social networking sites from all over India and an online questionnaire was used to gather information from respondents. Findings indicated that respondents showed a positive attitude toward getting services over WhatsApp. Most of the respondents believe that use of WhatsApp can improve alert services (CAS, virtual reference, notifications) and libraries can utilise their potential for providing better user services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper lists important publications on classification by S. R. Ranganathan (1892-1972), veritably called the father of Indian library movement. It outlines brief history of the seven editions of his revolutionary colon classification (CC) from 1928 to 1987. Seven editions are grouped into three evolutionary versions. It states the unique features of the CC as based on his deep study of the nature and growth of knowledge, and explains the work of designing a classification system into three successive but demarcated planes of work, namely, idea, verbal, and notional planes. Tools for designing and evaluating a system are enshrined in his 55 canons, 22 principles, 13 postulates and 10 devices. Further, this paper discusses the division and mapping of knowledge, types of subjects, and modes of their formation in the universe of knowledge as envisaged by Ranganathan. Semantic and syntactic relations are enshrined in his PMEST facet formula fitted with rounds and levels of facets, and other principles, such as the famous Wall-Picture principle, for citation order of facets. It also briefly explains facet analysis and number building with its notational base of 74 digits, and concludes with extent of its use and its enduring contribution to the science of classification and its future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analise that the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) is the most popular library classification in the world. It states its use in 2 lac libraries, information centres and many national libraries in the world. Its' translations exist in more than 30 major languages. It is being used in organising and searching the web and databases. The paper reviews the new features and changes in the five consecutive editions of the DDC since its 19th ed. (1979) to the current one 23rd (2011). It explains the management and tools like the ESS4.0 for revising the DDC. The paper finds the role of the OCLC and the DC Editorial Policy Committee (DCEPC) and the European Dewey Users Group (EDUG) in keeping the DDC update, relevant and remain connected with the users all over the world. It explains its various print and electronic versions, namely, Full edition in 4 volumes, Abridged Dewey in one volume, and its electronic editions since 1993 such as the Electronic Dewey, Dewey for Windows (DfW) and now the WebDewey and the Dewey database. The paper explains the organised and continued efforts of the OCLC to keep DDC popular and relevant to the use in libraries in the IT environment. It states the official efforts to make it a truly international classification by reducing the Western and Christian bias and make it more faceted with every edition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the concept of public-private partnership (PPP) and examines how it is different from 'privatisation' concept. It examines the present status of public libraries in India and the need for mobilising support for their improvement. The authors stress the need for implementing the National Knowledge Commission recommendation for PPP. The paper highlights the role of the public sector and private firms in developing public libraries through the PPP model. At the end suggestions were made on how to implementation the model for the development of public libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the awareness and use of library makerspaces. A well-structured questionnaire was used for collection of data. Around 700 questionnaires were distributed among the Indian library professionals. A total of 500 filled in questionnaires were received, out of which, only 470 questionnaires were selected for analysis of the data. The overall response rate was 67.14%. The result of the study demonstrates that among all users, 70% male and 30% female are aware of library's makerspaces. Majority of users utilising library makerspaces are pursuing master's degree. It has been found that nearly all of the academic libraries employees are using makerspaces facilities. Maximum number of respondents' (68.09%) using makerspaces facilities for academic and research purposes and reported them as a tool to educate students for the local and global economy (42.55%). When asked respondents about the state-of-the-art tools, technologies or forms for creating makerspaces, 44.68% of respondents claimed that their makerspaces have computer workstations. Approximately, 51.06% respondents indicated that their library's makerspaces offer students workshops/seminars/conferences. Furthermore, the study reflects that maximum number of respondents, i.e., 36% understand the significance of library makerspaces and evaluated them as "valuable". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students these days are seen in campuses and other study environments bowing their heads to mobile devices to seek information. Studies show that students are heavy users of their hardware, spending an average of 19.6 hours per week using an electronic device. The purpose of this paper is to explore the mobile library services initiated and adopted by some prominent academic libraries for the easy mobilisation of their existing services and also to assess how such services can be helpful to the user community. Moreover, the study raises awareness of the important mobile library services, some of them that are already in use in different Academic libraries and how the other services could help libraries to mobilise their information in fast and time bound manner that too without the constraints of space and time. The value of the study is to helping academic libraries to identify and embrace the mobile initiatives. With these mobile initiatives, libraries can provide a wide array of mobile services to the interested users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research paper is to investigate the knowledge management strategies adopted by the libraries of central universities in India. Review of literature, reveals that codification and personalisation have been considered knowledge management strategies for sharing explicit and tacit knowledge within the library system. To determine the most used knowledge management strategies in libraries, 14 tools (seven each for codification and personalisation) were recognised from the literature review and taken for examination. A total of 116 library and information science professionals of 23 central universities spread across India were surveyed through a web-based questionnaire to explore the knowledge management strategies followed and data analyses were conducted by using SPSS version 22.0. The findings of the research show that both codification and personalisation have been used in libraries, though the balance of codification and personalisation was not in 80-20 ratio. Between codification and personalisation, codification was found to be the most useful strategy with collective mean difference, i.e., 0.312. This study has practical implications for those who are not fully aware of the prominence of knowledge management and how knowledge management strategies can be used to gain a competitive advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this era of transition from information age to knowledge society, the libraries have much greater challenges to face. The whole perception of library has now changed from collection of books to a single window knowledge bank. This paper discusses the definition and features of open source library management software, criteria of selection of best open source library management software, their, advantages and limitations. Open source library management software is a solution to reducing that cost. The paper describes in brief about the feature of some of the open source library management software like Greenstone Digital Library, DSpace, Koha, E-Prints, NewGenlib. PhpMyLibrary, OpenBiblio, Avanti, etc., which are useful for developing digital library and institutional repositories.The paper also highlight the initiatives taken in India to make use of open source library management software for developing their digital libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Availability of various information and communication technology (ICT) tools and accessibility of electronic information resources have fuelled the growth of e-learning all over the world. Present paper focuses on the use and awareness of various e-resources available in Punjab Agricultural University Library. The use of consortia and e-databases is also analysed. The findings of the study revealed that electronic resources have become an integral part of the information for various features such as easy download and fast searching capability. Despite the fact that e-resources have eased the task of research, respondents still prefer information in both print as well as electronic formats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an analysis of design and structure of the library websites of IITs. It found significant differences according to some important point of view such as the user supporting services, number of hyperlinks on home pages and whole websites, number of images, location of images, In-active links and web pages, etc. The paper finally looks the design and structure of the library websites of IITs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture in India, since ancient times, is the most crucial sector for ensuring food and nutritional security, sustainable development and for the alleviation of poverty. It is the key sector in India for generating employment opportunities for the vast majority of the population particularly in rural areas. The paper aims to explore the many facets related to agricultural education, research, training, and libraries in India in order to provide a historical account on these aspects. The paper discusses in detail the various committees and commissions and their salient recommendations leading to the expansive growth and development of agricultural education, research, and libraries in India. Further, the paper also highlights the critical role of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research in the growth and development of agricultural education, research, extension, and libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The developments in information technology have made drastic changes in the way the information is collected, stored, retrieved, and distributed. Electronic journal is one of the products of information and communication technologies. The advancement of e-journal during recent years has given librarians a powerful new resource to support learning and research. With availability of both forms of journals in the library, it has become necessary to compare and evaluate effectiveness of e-journals and print journals from users' and librarys' point of view. The paper discusses a case study done at SP Jain Institute of Management and Research to find out the information-seeking patterns of the library users. The paper also discusses advantages and disadvantages of e-journals and suggests that printed and e-journals are complimentary to each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In any civilised society library has a significant place for study, research, reference, and recreation. It is a product of cultural maturation and storehouse of knowledge. Libraries extend horizons of knowledge. The large-scale explosion of information has necessitated libraries to not only be well-stocked and well-organised, but also to collect non-book materials such as motion picture, slides, magnetic tapes, CDs, DVDs, etc. The preservation of these multifarious materials has necessitated changes in the form of preservation efforts. This paper gives an overview of how to conserve library material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of information service is more likely to be achieved by adjusting the sen/ices to meet specific needs of an individual rather than trying to adapt the individual user to match the output of the information system. This paper provides an insight into the e-services implemented by the Information Centre and Library (IC&L) at Defence Institute of Advanced Technology DIAT (DU), Pune, keeping in view the users' requirements and their valuable suggestions. Paper also discusses the techniques and tools applied in further simplifying the functioning of the circulation module and ensuring smooth communication between the staff and the users in an otherwise automated library system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radio Frequency identification (RFID) systems were developed about 30 years ago. It is the latest technology to be used in libraries for book identification, for self checkout, and for sorting and conveying of library books and also for theft detection. These applications can lead to significant savings in labour costs and increase in efficiency. They can also reduce data entry errors, enhance customer service, and lower book theft and can provide a constant record update of media collections. The paper covers the components and technical features of a modem RFID library system to provide a guideline for the evaluation of this system. There are still many issues that must be addressed before RFID hits the big time. These include new technology for efficiency in operations, electromagnetic security systems, IT infrastructure to handle large amount of data, etc. Finally, the paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of RFID system in libraries, and the extent to which this technology has been introduced in a few Indian Libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organisations be it industry or business or even educational institutes, need to improve their information inventory system so as to survive in the competitive environment. The organisations have to increase their efficiency and effectiveness in maintaining the cycle of activities, in their planning, decision-making processes, and analytical needs. There are several ways to acquire this goal; one of it is with data mining which is able to make a prediction using existing data in their database in order to forecast future demand. In addition, with data mining they would be able to determine which activity is more important and what trend is prevailing. An information system, which is based on both World Wide Web technology and a 3-tiered architecture, is proposed herein to meet the above requirements. This paper is an attempt to provide the initial concept about data mining model that most likely will be used in various department including libraries of the teaching institutes. The initial concepts covered by the paper are the appropriate data warehouse schema; data mining tasks and techniques that are best suited, and applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-learning is a nebulous term; meaning teaching-learning facilitated through the modern media like web, satellite, cable networks, etc. Though it is successful in spreading its wings on today's higher education sector, it's linkages with the libraries are stilt feeble. The academic and other types of libraries, especially from the developing countries such as India, are struggling to cater to the increasingly heterogeneous requirements of the e-learners and associated community, This paper presents the key role of LIS professionals in the e-learning paradigm. After a thorough analysis of the e-learning scenario, authors have realised that libraries and librarians have an important role to play possibly through the digital libraries-a contemporary movement growing along-with the e-learning. The aspirations of e-learner community from the LIS professionals in this new era of e-learning are propagation of the movement itself, course content development, technical facilitation, technical trouble shooting, fuelling open-archives, improving user interfaces, identifying and training the usage of free and open source software tools to the user community to ensure maximum participation in teaching-learning process. The paper also discusses e-learning-library linkages and the innovations implemented in the top ranking off-shore public libraries that the Indian LIS community can follow. It reveals an emanating strongly bonded model of e-learning-library linkage required for the sustainance and mutual growth of the duo. This will also lend a hand in emerging an open knowledge culture and ultimately beneficial for the evolving knowledge society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative measurement in library arena for the impact of researches has travelled a lot from bibliometrics to citation metrics and for article level and author level assessment upto h-index, g-index and tol-index, etc. Altmetrics incorporates multiple data sources-both traditional and emerging. The data collected in altmetrics are not limited to calculating article level metrics, but have the potential to be used to generate journal and author metrics as well with new form of scholarly publication. Thus, altmetrics provides researchers and scholars both the new ways to track influence across a wide range of media and platforms. An attempt is made in this paper to discuss the term 'altmetrics' and its possible implications in library world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on a study conducted in seven Indian Institute of Management (IIM) libraries, viz., IIM-Ahmadabad, IIM-Bombay, IIM-Calcutta, IIM-Indore, IIM-Kozhikode, IIM-Lucknow, and IIM-Shilong. It discusses in detail the comparative status of the resources, implementation of IT, viz., software being used to automate library functions and provide remote access to library. Decreasing reliance on local collections is transforming the library as a physical destination. It also discusses about different information products and services provided by the libraries to their users to convert them as a learning centres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine the user's awareness and satisfaction level with the available assistive technology (AT) facilities for the people with disabilities in National Capital Region (NCR) libraries of India. Survey method and questionnaire has been used as the basic tool for data collection along with personal interviews of the experts. A total of 375 users in all the 15 libraries were selected randomly on the basis of willingness of the users to participate in the survey with the experience of working in digital environment. The survey results were tabulated and analysed with descriptive statistics methods using Excel software and 'Stata version 11'. People with disabilities have a good to fair understanding of the AT concepts and products. The users 'Strongly agree' towards the need of the AT to work in the digital environment. The study depicts lack of AT facilities in NCR libraries of India. Majority of users are 'Not satisfied' with available AT facilities and face various barriers in the use of AT in NCR libraries. This study will prove useful for the LIS professionals and the research community to provide an insight into the current status of the AT available in NCR libraries, India. This study is first to explore the viewpoint of people with disabilities regarding the ATs available in NCR libraries of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the decades, there has been a remarkable transformation in the information globe. Everyone has to adapt to these changes. Changes in society and demands for information utilisation have forced the information professionals to look for more effective and efficient methods for processing, storing, and retrieving information to cope up with the application of modern information technology. This paper highlights knowledge of information communication technology (ICT) in engineering institutional library and information science (LIS) professionals working engineering institutions of Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the use of collections and services at Dr B.R. Ambedkar NIT Central Library, Jalandhar. Well-structured 196 questionnaires were distributed among NIT Central Library users during the academic session 2010-11, to find out information seeking behaviour of the users. Out of them, 178 filled questionnaires were received, and 170 (95.51 %) were found fit for analysis. This study demonstrates and elaborates various aspects of the use of collections and services, purpose of visit to the library by the user, adequacy of library hours, infrastructure facilities and use of internet information resources. The paper also identifies the levels of use of various services provided, access of online database services, database search techniques, and users' awareness about different types of library network. It highlights satisfaction with overall functioning of the library. Suggestions have been given to make the collections and services more beneficial for the academic community of the technical institutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cloud computing is a new breed of service offered over the internet, which has completely changed the way one can use the power of computers irrespective of geographic location. It has brought in new avenues for organisations and businesses to offer services using hardware or software or platform of third party sources, thus saving on cost and maintenance. In this paper, an attempt has been made to give an overview of this technology, initiatives, advantages and disadvantages and the areas in which libraries can deploy this technology for providing services and augment the productivity of library staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital libraries have become integral part of day to day library activities. The ease and fast access to information in digital environment has brought drastic changes in information seeking behaviour of the users. This paper broadly covers digitisation issues related to open source software (OSS) their merits and demerits. The need and role of digital assets management (DAM) system and in-house development of DAM software for taking digitisation to various divisions in Research Centre Imarat is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and communications technology has played a major role in libraries. Libraries have now been completely dependent on providing new services to its users based on computer applications. Different computer programs are available for libraries to provide range of services from library automation, library website management, knowledge management, digital library management to document editing. To manage vast amount of digital information, libraries need some computer applications which takes care of their requirements. These applications are generally developed by commercial vendors or are available under open source license terms and conditions. In the present paper, an overview of range of open source software available for various library services. Library professionals can effectively use these software to provide innovative services to their users and without involvement of any of large budgets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the modern techno-savvy era, exponential growth in knowledge increased load on libraries. To cope up with the dwindling budget and vendors' closed-access attitude in dealing with proprietary software made libraries to look for open source software as an alternative. This paper focuses on the general and specific features of some of the popular software packages of integrated library management software, content management system and digital library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dawn of information technology created a revolution, triggering the information explosion on the digital front. Rapid changes in the technology further gave impetus for digitisation of information, which in turn raised the need for information literacy among the public. The onset of cutting edge technology in telecommunications, on the other hand, also created more opportunities for the creation of new content to further en-mass the expanding digital universe. However, the client or the information seeker, despite having internet accessibility, is far away from information sources. Present paper delves deeply into the possible threats created by information explosion and the necessary action to be taken by library and information professionals in dealing with and managing the information sources to bring them to the mouse click of right information seeker at the right time, thus making them comply with the normative principles propounded by the father of library & information science, Dr S.R. Ranganathan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many Indian libraries have taken up the challenge of modernisation to develop the machine readable catalogues, and machine readable full-text databases to provide greater accessibility to full text documents of different nature in order to provide seamless information to their users. The paper examines the status of the digitisation of agricultural libraries in India and the role of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research in developing new digital initiatives in content creation and agricultural digital library management. It elaborates upon the tools and technologies required for agricultural digital libraries management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advancement in information and communication technology (ICT) has outpaced our abilities to analyse, summarise, and extract knowledge from the data. Today, database technology has provided us with the basic tools for the efficient storage and lookup of large data sets, but the issue of how to help human beings to understand and analyse large bodies of data remains a difficult and unsolved problem. So, intelligent tools for automated data mining and knowledge discovery are needed to deal with enormous data. As library and information centres are considered the backbone of knowledge organisation, knowledge discovery in databases (KDD) is also getting attention of library and information scientists. This paper highlights the basics of KDD process and its importance in digital libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taxonomic is one of the oldest and basic scientific work on living organisms. This basic research is the foundation for all modern fields of research. Taxonomic research has generated huge amount of knowledge in India which unfortunately is scattered and unorganised largely due to lack of coordination between different scientific government and non-government organisations. This paper highlights the value of taxonomic information, problems faced in accessing the information and proposes the need for the development of an Integrated Plant Taxonomic Information System (IPTIS) at national level to meet the growing needs of taxonomic information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Libraries have experienced many transformations along with time. Scenario has further changed with the information explosion and advent of Internet and telecommunications technologies. Information seeking has become much more complex due to ever increasing amount of data, in both printed and electronic forms, and no single library is self-sufficient to purchase all the books/e-books, journals/e-journals and other library documents within their library budgets. Library consortium is one of the solutions to overcome this problem. However, due to ever increasing prices of journals, vendor dominated market, lack of competition, and for other reasons, question of whether consortium approach, some of the experiences in accessing e-journals through this approach, a viable alternative for journal's price hike or not? This paper is a case study of CSIR e-journal Consortium and discusses need for consortia, types, advantages and disadvantages of a consortium, problems faced by the consortiums and possible solutions for some of these problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer infrastructure plays a critical role in the academic system for meeting teaching, learning and research needs. Libraries are an integral part of academic system. Adequate infrastructure facilities support academic libraries share their resources and services in an effective way. National Institute of Technology, erstwhile regional engineering college, are prime institutions and benchmark for technical education in India in the field of engineering, science and technology. This paper discusses the computer infrastructure facilities available at National Institutes of Technology across India and current status of computer-based library services offered by these institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prohibitive cost of library material, especially foreign journals, pertaining to science and technology, has always been a bane of information centres, especially in the developing countries, taking away large chunk of their meager resources and therefore always a hindrance to provide better services to the users. Libraries tried to bridge this gap by borrowing and inter lending required documents among themselves. Advances in information and communication technology (ICT) have changed the publication scenario as well as the mode of resource sharing due to availability of e-journals and online resources. Rise in number of personal computers, Internet, and networks (LAN, MAN and WANs) besides augmenting the availability of the material increased the speed with which the information is now accessible. ICT also facilitated the establishment of library consortia for maintaining information resources together. In India, during the last few years, many leading scientific and technical organisations have established consortia to share their human and electronic resources. This paper briefly discusses the consortia initiatives taken at Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), a premier research organisation of Ministry of Defence, engaged in the indigenous development of cutting-edge defence technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emerging trends in digital technologies and their applicability to information handling activities added new challenges to knowledge professionals in the way of providing qualitative services to its users. The paper analyses the characteristics of contemporary knowledge society and identified the factors affecting next generation libraries. Examined some of the significant issues in the present day Library and Information System (LIS) like its structure, collection strategy, preservation, access to information, technological issues and modes of communication, etc. It has identified the central role of knowledge professional, in the organisation and dissemination of knowledge, striking a balance of physical and virtual realms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern tool like computer has replaced traditional methods of storing and retrieving knowledge. Retrospective conversion of manual bibliographical records on online mode is considered to be the first step in the direction of computerisation process in the library. This paper attempts to analyse the retrospective conversion process undertaken by the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML), New Delhi, a premier social science research library in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information Literacy (IL) is an area of interest to librarians and Information professionals and it is pivotal to the pursuit of lifelong learning process. The paper explains the concept of IL and brings out its standards and performance indicators enunciated by IFLA and UNESCO in the context of school libraries and higher education. The importance of IL for school libraries and public libraries are highlighted. It also discusses the IL scenario at international level and in India and enumerates the UNESCOs declaration at Prague towards the Information Literate Society. Finally, it stresses for the development of IL policy in the Indian education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Libraries have long been involved in training their users in library use, its services and resources. Terms such as library instruction, library orientation, user education and bibliographic instruction have all been used at various times to indicate the process of helping users how to use the library, how to access information and teaching the various bibliographic tools. These methods are facility specific instruction, i.e., help users in knowing the physical location of different sections, staff, collections and services of library. In the digital age, fencing around "library resources" is a daunting task. Moreover, the instructional needs of users have changed dramatically as new methods for teaching and learning have emerged. Information literacy has become an important concept since the arrival of the information age. Research in this area in Asian countries such as India is still in its preliminary stages, as these countries have only recently become fully immersed in the information culture. The paper is a case study of selected library and information centres of higher learning and research at Bangalore City. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]