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The travel guidebooks emerged in the nineteenth century as a genre which apparently featured an objective source of information; yet, the guidebooks to India stemmed from the publishers' own interpretation of the Orient, shaped by the Orientalist discourse of the time, as well as from their business interests, closely linked to the state apparatus. This paper will focus on the relation between tourism and the British Empire, and the role played by the early guidebooks in English, edited by John Murray and Thomas Cook, in the colonial endeavour to control all forms of indigenous knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The education system in India is fast developing; educational institutes and various government departments conduct different types of exams in India to select the ideal candidates. Millions of students attend these exams every year to get jobs. The aspirants are required to use essential information resources to prepare for competitive examinations. In recent years, public libraries have become the primary source of resources for students, job seekers, and the general public. As a result, the current study examines the use of public libraries in the preparation for competitive examinations through a comprehensive evaluation of academic research papers. This research article also emphasizes how Competitive Examination resources are used in public libraries. The main purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the use of public libraries in preparation for competitive exams. However, this manuscript provides a good understanding for new researchers who wish to conduct research in this field and facilitates effective data collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutions of advanced education and research, through their libraries, invest substantially in licensed online resources. Only authorized users of an institution are entitled to access licensed online resources. Seamless on-campus access to licensed resources happens mostly through Internet Protocol (IP) address authentication. Increasingly, licensed online resources are accessed by authorized users from off-campus locations as well. Libraries will, therefore, need to ensure seamless off-campus access to authorized users. Libraries have been using various technologies, including proxy server or virtual private network (VPN) server or single sign-on, to facilitate seamless offcampus access to licensed resources. In this paper, authors share their experience in setting up a Shibboleth-based single sign-on (SSO) access management system at the JRD Tata Memorial Library, Indian Institute of Science, to enable authorized users of the institute to seamlessly access licensed online resources from off-campus locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper is based entirely on secondary sources of information, mainly drawn from the 2001 and 2011 Censuses of India and West Bengal. In this paper, an attempt has been made to analyse the present literacy trends of the ethnic communities of West Bengal, and comparing the data over a decade (2001-2011). The difference between male and female has also been focused. The fact remains that a large number of tribal women might have missed educational opportunities at different stages and in order to empower them varieties of skill training programmes have to be designed and organised. Implementation of systematic processes like Information Education Communication (IEC) should be done to educate communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In recent years there has been significant coverage of mental health in Indian newspapers; the media can play a significant role in perpetuating as well as reducing stigma towards people with mental illness. This paper analyses the content, context and type of newspaper coverage of various mental health disorders in English language newspapers in India between 2016 and 2021. Methods: A detailed analysis was performed on a sample of articles about mental illness in a range of English language Indian newspapers. Results: Depression was the most prevalent topic amongst the articles followed by anxiety, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Our study describes a wide range of use of mental health disorders in various newspapers. All diagnoses were generally described in a criminal context like homicide, sexual assault and other crimes. Over time newspaper coverage of mental illness has become less stigmatising. Further exploration of non-English medium newspapers is required to fully understand the extent of the role of print media in perpetuating unhelpful stereotypes of people with mental illness in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The recent COVID-19 pandemic like situation has killed a large numbers of people and caused havoc across the world. With the aim of providing the COVID-19 related updated information about facilities, availability, utilization of COVID-19 related resources like vaccines, hospitals, beds, oxygen to the people and preventing its surge, many websites were developed for health guidance to the general masses. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this paper is to investigate the accessibility and usability of websites providing COVID-19 information in India. METHODS: This study evaluates the 38 websites providing COVID-19 information in India using automated tools. RESULTS: It was found that digital healthcare information is far from accessibility conformance and none of the websites conformed to web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 completely. The website adhered to understandability with average errors of 2.8 while less compliant to perceivability with average errors of 30.5. It was also found that most of the websites were mobile friendly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global rise of populism and concomitant polarizations across disenfranchised and marginalized groups has been magnified by so-called echo chambers, and a major public health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic has only served to fuel these intergroup tensions. Media institutions disseminating information on ways to prevent the propagation of the virus have reactivated a specific discursive phenomenon previously observed in many epidemics: the construction of a defiled 'Other'. With anthropological lenses, discourse on defilement is an interesting path to understand the continuous emergence of pseudo-scientific forms of racism. In this paper, the authors focus on 'borderline racism', that is the use of an institutionally 'impartial' discourse to reaffirm the inferiority of another race. The authors employed inductive thematic analysis of 1200 social media comments reacting to articles and videos published by six media in three different countries (France, United States and India). Results delineate four major themes structuring defilement discourses: food (and the relationship to animals), religion, nationalism and gender. Media articles and videos portrayed Western and Eastern countries through contrasting images and elicited a range of reaction in readers and viewers. The discussion reflects on how borderline racism can be an appropriate concept to understand the appearance of hygienic othering of specific subgroups on social media. Theoretical implications and recommendations on a more culturally sensitive approach of media coverage of epidemics and pandemics are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world is in great chaotic condition due to the outbreak of COVID-19 caused by a novel coronavirus. People are facing havoc in every corner of the world. As it is an actual novel virus, people search everywhere on the internet and other platforms to know much about this lethal virus. This paper examines various aspects of informationseeking behavior and pattern among ordinary people in India through online mode. The data were collected from August to November 2020. This paper also seeks to identify different areas of information need among common people and their problems while searching for desired information. The primary objectives of the paper include examining the users’ activeness towards social media usage, identifying the most preferred information sources by users, and investigating different purposes for seeking information related to COVID-19 by users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nationalism in India was born out of the bondage of a country subjected to foreign rule and the internal loss of self-confidence that went with such a rule. The freedom struggle that followed was understood to be Indian nationalism, not Hindu or Muslim or any kind of religious or other nationalism primarily aimed to ensure the welfare of all citizens and their entitlement to justice and human rights. The present paper examines this evolution of nationalism in India as a freedom struggle against the British and then as a democratic process to give every Indian a voice in decision-making in free India. But what has been noticed over the years is a steady regression in secularism where individual rights were compromised, then as a struggle for power in party circles and finally in the name of religion. To the extent that today's nationalism in India is perceived more as an imposed 'feeling'- a feeling that has equally impacted the country's image outside home; despite promising strides to transform India from a 'balancing' to a 'leading' power internationally. Being normative in nature the paper borrows citation mostly from secondary sources of information, including books, journals and e-sources for current affairs. It tries to incorporate two formal discussions on Nationalism and International status of India which is part of the curriculum at UG-level in college/universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper critically analyzes the problems and the hurdles for the financial inclusion for the economical growth and plans to call attention to the importance of Pradhan Mantri Yojana to bring Financial Inclusion a reality. A country can develop economically and socially if its weakest section can end up being financially independent. To achieve inclusive growth, the Government of India has introduced many schemes recently and steps have been taken that the benefits of policies reach the people. The schemes include Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojna, Pradhan Mantri Bima Suraksha Yojna and Pradhan Manti Atal Yojna that have already been launched. The unawareness of financial institutions in the rural, semi‐urban and hilly areas of India is worrisome. The study focuses on the secondary source of information obtained through the website of the Reserve Bank of India website and other published sources. Sustainable growth, economic development and progress of an economy can only be achieved if a country has a well‐equipped financial system. All the assets, funds and capital have to be properly channelized for attaining inclusive and sustainable development goals in the Indian economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for technology in classrooms, particularly language classrooms, was envisaged way back in the 1970s, and ever since there has been attempts to blend socio-constructivist theories of language learning using a technological interface. The last decade witnessed an unprecedented digital penetration across the world, resulting in demand for agility in approach and outcome-driven curriculum. This led to revisions in classroom pedagogy, pedagogic principles, and the concept of classroom itself. Digital revolution in India coincided with economic liberalization and attempted to update the curriculum to achieve global standards. In fact, in the urban quarters of the nation, the classrooms have been growing smarter with learners having access to worldwide information network and teachers acting more as facilitators than sources of information. However, the needs and readiness of learners are as diverse as the vast socio-geography of the nation. This paper probes into the diverse learning contexts of India and analyzes the technological intervention in the language classrooms. Discussing the manifold challenges to be overcome at every level, the paper surveys the effectiveness of Technology-Enhanced Language Learning (TELL) in the Indian context and studies its future scope in transforming the education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyber security's importance is on the rise. Our world relies on technologies more than ever before. Government, military, organizations, financial institutions, universities and other businesses collect, process and store a large amount of information on computers. This trend is growing faster every day. As computers become a major source of information, they need to be protected. Every day a new type of cyber-attack came into an act which makes digital data more vulnerable day by day. Cyber security is the practice of ensuring the integrity, confidentiality, and availability (ICA) of information. It requires a broad variety of resources to secure networks, computers, services and data against threats or non-authorized entry, which encompasses best practices for risk control techniques and technologies. In this paper, we will address generations of cyber-attacks, attacker strategy, and biggest cyber -attacks in India. The statistical data of cyber-attacks and security will be discussed. The paper will also clarify emerging concepts of information technology and potential protection developments. In this article, intelligent protection strategies will be clarified to secure information from multiple intruders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to use Twitter analytics for analyzing the startup ecosystem of India. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses descriptive analysis and content analytics techniques of social media analytics to examine 53,115 tweets from 15 Indian startups across different industries. The study also employs techniques such as Naïve Bayes Algorithm for sentiment analysis and Latent Dirichlet allocation algorithm for topic modeling of Twitter feeds to generate insights for the startup ecosystem in India. Findings: The Indian startup ecosystem is inclined toward digital technologies, concerned with people, planet and profit, with resource availability and information as the key to success. The study categorizes the emotions of tweets as positive, neutral and negative. It was found that the Indian startup ecosystem has more positive sentiments than negative sentiments. Topic modeling enables the categorization of the identified keywords into clusters. Also, the study concludes on the note that the future of the Indian startup ecosystem is Digital India. Research limitations/implications: The analysis provides a methodology that future researchers can use to extract relevant information from Twitter to investigate any issue. Originality/value: Any attempt to analyze the startup ecosystem of India through social media analysis is limited. This research aims to bridge such a gap and tries to analyze the startup ecosystem of India from the lens of social media platforms like Twitter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to document the existing traditional knowledge of the medicinal plants for bone setting health care practices and to analyse the present treatment process and identifying the medicinal plants as key factor of ethno-orthopedic healing system in Gurap area in Hooghly district of West Bengal. Data were collected from the patients as well as practitioners through questionnaires and personal interviews to know about the general information, orthopaedic problems, treatment process, restrictions and the usefulness of the practice through the traditional knowledge and medicinal plant. The predominance of rural folk (86%) indicates the importance of the traditional bone setters as healthcare providers in rural areas. Most of the patients (96%) were satisfied with this treatment. The plant also identified through the present study namely Ipomoea obscura that can be obtained patent and preserve for future generation. The study has drawn upon focuses on the documentation of traditional knowledge, valuable medicinal plant and treatment process adopted in the study area, which may help to the other communities as a medical resource for further use. Library can acts as resource providers of such authentic medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning environments have changed significantly in the past few decades due to the inclusion of emerging Information and Communication Technology (ICT), both in hardware and software, as well as various online media in classrooms. Learners today utilize mobile gadgets and applications as their primary sources of information, knowledge, and social discourse. However, despite these advances in learning all technologies and the way learners have adapted to their changing environments, Technology is often used to supplement, rather than drive, the learning environment. Smart learning involves the emerging notion of smart technology. Incorporating smart learning techniques into classroom teaching seems very interesting and constitutes complete knowledge pack. Further it is interesting to see what is being done, what issues are emerging, and what successes possible in the concerned areas that likely to occur in the next few years. In responding, this conceptual paper seeks to identify learning elements and approaches that might lead to stable, coherent and exhaustive understanding of smart learning environments, thereby providing standards development for learning, education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to a coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patient is challenging for the healthcare providers (HCP). COVID-19 cases have specific CPR requirements, which differ from standard resuscitation efforts. Objective: This paper aims to evaluate whether online learning can be an effective methodology for imparting information on the management of cardiopulmonary arrest in COVID-19 patients due to a novel virus unknown to HCP based on evaluation of knowledge acquisition and satisfaction of the nurses in the new area of medicine and virology. Methodology: In a single-arm, one group before and after design, from a cohort of 160 nurses trained in comprehensive cardiac life support (CCLS) formulated by the Indian Resuscitation Council (IRC), 73 nurses participated in the study. After obtaining informed consent through the email from the nurses, baseline data including demographic profile and knowledge related to CPR in COVID-19 patients were collected. An online intervention spread over 1 week was given using a validated e-learning module. The online intervention was found to be effective (pre- and post-intervention knowledge score 13.65 ± 3.01 vs 19.92 ± 1.94, p = 0.001). The majority of nurses were highly satisfied with the content and the training methodology (37.23 ± 4.70). Conclusion: A well-structured, online study material can be used in imparting knowledge and demonstrating the basic and essential skills to nurses, required for giving CPR to COVID-19 patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper an attempt has been made to know the various types of information resources available in the print media libraries of Chandigarh, Delhi and Punjab and what procedure is adopted by them to manage these information resources in their libraries. The data which was collected from the twelve print media libraries has been analyses and discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Print media is the oldest media for news and information. It includes newspapers, magazines, journals and other printed material etc. The print media is responsible for reporting the latest and accurate news and information. The common people find the plethora of thoughts from the newspapers so that they can formulate their own opinions, ideas and judgment about the issues. Health related stories are an important part of the information published in the newspapers. In this research paper the researcher has undertaken content analysis of four national dailies published from Jaipur city over a period of three years (2019, 2020 & 2021) on their coverage of 'World Blood Donor Day'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The basic purpose of this paper is to review the relevance of Institutional Repository in the context of India and to prepare an account of the present state and future prospects of Institutional Repository in India. The paper is an outcome of a review of works in the area of Institutional Repository with specific reference to India. For this purpose, quite a good number of sources of information have been explored, analysed and assessed. The Study reveals that India has a huge potential for the growth of Institutional Repository. Hundreds of universities and thousands of colleges and other institutions including IITs, IIMs, IISc, IGNOU, CSIR and ICSSR centers provide a great scope for Institutional Repository in this country. DSpace is the most dominant software used by 37 (59%) institutional repositories followed by E-Print used by 18(29%) institutional repositories. The institutional repository created by Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore has been placed among top 116 institutional repositories in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to show the importance of web services towards libraries. A brief description of Web Services, different resources of web based services has been discussed followed by the present scenario and future of Web Based Services in India. Web services provide many benefits to library community, but majority of these benefits need standardisation of web-based services and active involvement/participation of library staff. The findings of this paper make library community aware of available web resources for libraries and influence them to actively involve, and participate in the orientation programmes and thereby enhance the quality of library activities and develop the productivity of research work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capital market responds to precedent and unprecedented events. These events play an important role in market efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the state of the stock market due to the recurring landslides in the Uttarakhand region in India. This study will help to determine the loss faced by the companies in the Indian stock market. Hence, analysing the "shock due to the natural disaster" in the stock market is an important issue. The study is based on secondary sources of information about various landslides in India. To calculate the "shock due to the natural disaster" in the stock market, we have employed event study methodology to measure this impact. The paper finds that a negative shock is brought by this catastrophic disaster on the Indian stock market. The impact of this shock is on each and every industry in the market; however, the most significant impact is felt by the top companies in the various industries. The market has shown a negative trend in its abnormal returns on and after the event day. Conversely, as the news of relief programmes were released by the government after three or four days, the market again started becoming normal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Understanding attrition in this VUCA world has become imperative for organizations to ensure they are able to sustain themselves. While focus on understanding attrition is important, it is equally important to retain acquired talent, at the same time add value to the human side of business. The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors which play crucial role in retention of newly hired employees working in Indian IT industry. The study has considered factors, namely, supervisor support behavior, feedback-seeking behavior (FSB), affective commitment (AC) and empirically verified their impact on new recruit's intention to quit (IQ). Design/methodology/approach: The survey was conducted among 524 newly hired employees working in 58 different companies listed in National Association of Software Services Companies member directory in Indian IT industry. All the scales used in the study are reliable and validated. Confirmatory factor analysis was carried out to test the validation of scales. The data were analyzed to test the proposed structural model using structural equation modeling. Findings: The present study has successfully blended and verified the effect of supportive behavior of supervisor and new recruit's FSB on the AC and IQ of newly hired employees. The study highlighted that supportive supervisors can encourage the newly hired employees to seeking feedback and enhance their commitment toward the organization. Further, this reduces the turnover intention of employees. Research limitations/implications: The theoretical contribution of the study is in successful amalgamation of two major streams of studies on new recruits by assessing the effect of supervisors' supportive behaviors and new recruits' proactive FSB on their IQ. The study has also looked at the newly hired employees' behavioral reactions during uncertain entry period and throughout the adjustment process. The limitations of the study are in the focus on one industry and cross-sectional data. In the future researchers can explore the relationships in a longitudinal study. Also, other variables like perceived organizational support and job satisfaction can be considered. Practical implications: The present study demonstrates that supportive supervisors can motivate newly hired employees to seek feedback, and help them to "fit in" the organization. This study verifies that supervisors are considered as an important source of information for new recruits and the new recruits' FSB positively influences their commitment toward the organization. Based on these results it is imperative for managers to be approachable and available to offer feedback to the new recruits in their initial days to ensure their adjustment, commitment and retention in the organization. This adds to sustaining the business and social well-being of the employees. Originality/value: The present study offers a critical insight about the retention of newly hired employees in the organization. In the quickly changing VUCA world, these newly hired employees can be an asset for companies to build competitive advantage. However, to construct a strong future team for the organization, it is imperative that companies focus on augmentation of commitment among newly hired employees to further retain them. The present study proposes the path of empowerment among the new recruits to make them committed to the organization and to make sure that they stay with the organization in long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micronutrient deficiencies, majorly iron, iodine, vitamin-A, pose a serious threat to public health in many developing countries, including India. A surfeit of nutrition and health programs was developed to address micronutrient malnutrition in India, covering many aspects of lifecycle. The importance of nutrition education and communication is emphasized in public health nutrition policies. Concomitantly, there is a surge in various interventional studies with the integration of nutrition education and communication. However, there is a lack of clarity on the overall impact of community level nutrition education/communication interventions on micronutrient (mal)nutrition in India, which may be due to the lack of critical evaluation of the nutrition education/communication components in these studies. Given this background, this article reviews the studies conducted in the last two decades in India. This systematic review identified and analyzed the studies that aimed to use nutrition education and communication as intervention methods to promote micronutrients’ intake and status among various age groups. Using four online databases and systematic library search, research articles published from 1994 to 2016 were collected based on pre-defined inclusion/exclusion criteria. Data on general information, intervention, and key outcome measures were extracted. Inferences from findings of studies were drawn; factors that contributed to the success or failure of the interventions were analyzed by developing a framework. Systematic internet and library search resulted in 1250 published papers. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 19 research papers (with five studies covering nutrition education + supplementation; one study with nutrition education + supplementation + psychosocial intervention and the rest only education/communication) were selected for the review. This paper discusses the contextual factors in the area of intervention, audience targeted, methods of communication used, messages delivered, and outcomes thereof. It suggests that integrated multiple strategies may work and a critical examination is needed to address macro and micro issues of micronutrient-related communication for developing sustainable communication interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present paper is based on the exchange arrangements of journals in some selected institutes of India. This paper illustrates the meaning of exchange and methods of acquiring journals under exchange arrangement. This paper explores the advantages of exchange agreement for the institutions and scholars etc. The exchange arrangement for information resources is not only an economic device; it is also helpful in the dissemination of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brahmi Script is one of the earliest scripts known to India and South Asia and it is also an ancestral script for all the indigenous scripts present in India. Researchers, historians, laymen, etc. need these sources of information systematically and handily. In the scholarly world, a huge amount of data and information (Digital Humanities based collections) related to Brahmi script is available but all this information is scattered in the form of texts, images, videos, etc. This creates chaos to understand the overall story of the Brahmi script from its inception to till date. With these issues, we felt motivated to present the data and information related to Brahmi script among their users in a more informative, easily accessible, and comfortably understandable manner. In this paper, we have tried to connect all the dots related to Brahmi script under one umbrella with the help of the Digital humanities tool-Visual Eyes. Further, we have mapped these multimedia formats with each other on the historical timeline, interactive maps and story events to establish and understand the relationship among the various facets of the Brahmi script. The impact of this research is more appealing as it has presented a new dimension for any other script to make it more accessible and easily understandable worldwide while using an innovative open-source tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to describe the work of DELNET, the successful resource sharing and information provider in India. Design/methodology/approach -- The development of DELNET is described, the services it offers and plans for the future. Findings -- The paper finds that DELNET fulfils a vital role in facilitating resource sharing in India and is expanding its role rapidly. Originality/value -- The paper is an up-to-date study of resource sharing in India from the perspective of a successful agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a new online comprehensive database developed for genome-related information of Indian plants (dGRIP). In strict sense, dGRIP database displays for each species and genus, its chromosome number(s) with comprehensive cytogenetic data, genome size, ploidy, systematics and molecular genetics related to Indian angiosperms, gymnosperms, pteridophytes and bryophytes. The data are described in the form of datasheets encompassing 29 parameters available for users to consolidate the knowledge with respect to comprehensive cytogenetical details. The chromosome database is developed based on object-relational database management system (Sequence Query Language) and includes references from which the information was sourced. The online database is currently available at http://sbtju.in/Dgrip/index.html consists of a main page, project information, collaborators and search tools for each group, namely angiosperms, gymnosperms pteridophytes and bryophytes. Currently, the information is available for about 1500 species (Release 1.0); however, the dGRIP continues to expand with goal to include data of more than 17,000 plant species from India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted to investigate the accessibility and use of perception on open access resources used in the library and Information Science students in Idhaya College for Women. In this paper, an attempt has been made to study the awareness of open access resources. The methodology adopted for the study surveyed in which questionnaires, interviews, and observations were used in a collection of the data. A total of 131 respondents participated in the study. 80(61.07%) of the frequency are UG Students while 51(38.93%) are PG Students in the use of open access resources in Idhaya College for Women. show that the Using of open access resources 32(24.43%) respondents information access for Research purpose only. Show that the frequency-wise respondents used in open access resources in daily used in 25(19.08%). Show the Time Spend for the open access resources respondents used in Less than 2 hours used in 29(22.14%). Show that the used in open access resources in a maximum of respondents daily used in home 32(24.43%). Show that the Problems of used in open access resources in a maximum of respondents Privacy problem faced in 27(20.61%),UG students access the problems of 20(20.62%) PG students access the problems of 7(20.59%).Show that the Storage of open access resources in the maximum of respondents PPT in 42(32.06%), followed by Word Document 28(21.37%).Show that the Impact of using open access resources of respondents Provides free online access to the necessary literature for my research strongly Agree for the 32 (24.43%) Agree for 46(35.11%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The public library system in India obliges pressing serious cosmetic touch up. An enormous financing and support service system is required for public libraries in India today to make them true information resource centers for individuals. Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is the best answer for changing the current state of the public library system of India. This will support the overall development of people, in the general library framework and guarantee the procurement of valuable information services. This paper gives a fundamental thought towards the current status of public libraries in India and the necessity for change through a public-private partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Very, very little is known about the children's book publishing industry of India. This paper looks at book production aimed at a predominantly young readership base and attempts to identify the success areas and the gaps. The absence of statistics within the industry is particularly telling: it indicates the existence of a non-traditional book business and also points to alarming levels of piracy. At the same time, the growth of the traditional publishing industry has been seen as spectacular and unlikely, and growth patterns are proving to be unpredictable. This paper attempts to map trends with the limited resources available. The scope of the study, given the geographical and demographic nature of India, is broad. The focus is on both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background This paper describes the process of setting up community-based organisations (CBOs) of sex workers during the 5-year community mobilisation initiative of the Swagati project, an HIV prevention programme in nine coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh. Method The Swagati project facilitated the formation of 11 CBOs through partnerships with local nongovernmental organisations and meetings with groups of sex workers. Activities included peer-led outreach, information campaigns, institution building through community committees and capacity building for organisational development. Results In 2010, a Community Ownership and Preparedness Index tool assessed the CBOs in terms of leadership, democratic governance, decision making and others qualities. All except two CBOs scored in the 'promising' category. One of these CBOs moved to promising stage by the year 2011 indicating good progress, considering how recently they were established. The Community Ownership and Preparedness Index assessments of organisational strengths showed wide variations among the CBOs, despite the essentially similar organisational steps taken by the Swagati programme. A Behavioural Tracking Survey (2010) of individual CBO members also showed district-level differences in sex workers' expressions of confidence in collective action, participation in organisational activities and other indicators. Conclusion Mobilising marginalised populations such as sex workers to form CBOs is a complex process and can be affected by many influences, including the qualities of CBO leadership. Although the CBOs have not yet reached full 'maturity', they have made significant improvements in terms of collectivisation and its translation into collective action as reported by individual sex workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest a framework that would guide the practicing manager to decide the degree of information systems (IS) outsourcing. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed framework has been derived from the findings of a previous empirical study and qualitative inputs. Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is then used to apply the framework. The framework is finally validated in three India-based banks. Findings – The proposed framework helps in creating a strategic alignment between the business strategy and information system strategy. The application of the framework shows the preference of managers towards high IS outsourcing. Strategic alignment and medium term impact emerge the important factors in IS outsourcing. The validity of the framework is proved in three banks. Research limitations/implications – The validation exercise has been done on a small sample due to resources constraints and a study involving a larger sample is desired. Further, it is advised to review the framework on regular intervals and make suitable changes in decision factors. Practical implications – The framework is helpful to managers in identifying the critical factors which can act as useful inputs in taking informed decisions on the degree of IS outsourcing. Originality/value – The paper fills some of the gaps in IS outsourcing by suggesting a practice- oriented framework that guides the decision maker to undertake a systematic and structured approach in arriving at an outsourcing decision. The framework has evolved from the practices of banks in India for which there does not exist any similar research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Periodical literature plays a critical role in communicating information to the fashion educators in India. This paper deals with the impact of the changing nature of information needs of fashion educators and their usage of fashion periodicals at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) Delhi. The paper is in two parts. The first part discusses the transformation of fashion education in India and its impact on the periodical collection in the Resource Centre of NIFT. The second part reports the findings of a survey of preferences of periodicals by the fashion educators of NIFT Delhi. Design faculty used consumer and trade magazines. The findings of this survey can be accepted as a trend among the fashion educators of design departments at NIFT. Serials Review 2010; 36:23-31. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The research presented here aims to build a picture of the changes in retail taking place in India. India is poised to become a retail power house. The paper looks at the changing scene in the retail sector in view of many MNCs and large industries entering into this segment. Design/methodology/approach - Data were drawn from industry sources which included national and international published sources from 1993-2006. Findings - The findings presented show that malls in 2006 are more developed in the North and West part of India. Food, groceries and apparel purchase by customers contributed to 52 percent. On average 75 percent of customers spend about 1-3 hours in the mall. Malls with multiplexes such as cinema theatres, food courts, play places for children are becoming the centre for family outings. Small retailers have improved their service to cater to Indian consumers. Credit limits and home service are helping them to hold on to their customers. Retailing focus is changing towards satisfying the different hierarchy of needs of customers. Research limitations/implications - All are from Indian perspectives which perhaps limits its usefulness else where in the world. Practical implication - A very useful source of information and review of this scenario which should help other retailers across the world, especially in developing economies, to face big giants more aggressively and do better. Originality/value - This paper fulfils an identified information/resources need and offers guidance to small retailers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this research is to investigate the information needs of Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of Delhi. It aims to provide a study of information sources used by them. It also includes the library use by MLAs, their awareness about various library services, and deals with the problems/hindrances faced by MLAs during the process of information seeking. Design/methodology/approach- The study was conducted with the help of a structured questionnaire and semi-structured interview schedule. The respondents marked their response on a graphic scale which was converted into a rating scale for obtaining the inferences. The analysis of data is done with the help of weighted mean. A histograph has been used to make the matter more understandable. Findings - The results of this research show that only a few MLAs are aware about the usefulness of library/information services. They are dependant on non-documentary sources of information. They are not fully satisfied with the present system of information gathering, where they have to devote more time and energy. Research limitations/implications - The present research is applied only to the information system available to the MLAs of Delhi. The findings can not be universalized to all the MLAs in the different states of India. Practical implications - In the last part of this paper an outline for the proposed information system for the MLAs of Delhi has been provided. These suggestions will be useful to the policy maker when making an electronic based information system for the MLAs of Delhi. Originality/value - There has been no study carried out on the information needs of MLAs in India prior to this research. The study will help the authorities to build/rebuild/improve the information system for MLAs in Delhi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entire process of bond rating performed by credit rating agencies is rather covert because of confidentiality of issues. Many researchers have tried to formulate alternative statistical approaches to predict bond ratings. This paper attempts to provide an insight into Alternate Models for Credit Rating and documents the various studies that have utilized these models. Information for this review was obtained from various Indian and international journals, browsing the Internet for information on research studies on Credit rating and through the references, footnotes and bibliographies provided in various research works. Structural and reduced intensity models used in the article, depend much on theoretical guidance for specification of the dependence relationships, modifications to the proposed relationships and many other aspects of estimating a model. A low amount of literature on credit rating is available in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The current Indian secondary school curriculum has been criticised for its failure to deliver relevant skills-based food and nutrition education for adolescents. The purpose of this paper is to understand the views of adolescents, their parents, teachers and school principals on the present food and nutrition curriculum and the role of the schools in developing food skills.Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were held with 15 students aged 14-15 years, 15 parents, 12 teachers and ten principals in ten private schools in Kolkata, India. The interview questions were primarily based on the content, merits and demerits of the curriculum. The digitally recorded data were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically.Findings All the 52 interviewees observed that the food and nutrition curriculum created awareness in students about the importance of healthy eating. However, they also described certain weaknesses of the curriculum. These included lack of practical assignments, an out-dated and a limited curriculum, which failed to initiate critical thinking and was contradicted by sales practices in the school food environment. The interviewees prioritised the inclusion of food skills in the curriculum.Practical implications The emerging evidence suggests the need for the development of a skills-focussed food and nutrition curriculum to encourage healthy eating behaviours among adolescents.Originality/value Most of the work on food and nutrition education has come from developed nations – this is the first study in the Indian context of the secondary school food and nutrition curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper examines the assessing the impact of ICT on the library users and their reading habits. A total of 2463 samples were selected from 11 state universities in Karnataka State, India. A well designed questionnaire was used for the data collection and data has been analyzed using SPSS. The present study consisted of an equal number of males (51.3%) and female (48.7%) respondents and most of the them are from rural (63.0%) areas. It can be seen from the table that the majority of female (71.8%) and male (66.3%) respondents read information sources at their home. It is very interesting to note that majority of the respondents are inspired by themselves to read (68.5%) followed by good books (57.4%) and teachers (42.0%). The study found that 50.3% of male and 49.7% of female respondents opined that the ICT has made an impact on their reading habits. In this regards the result found that, the ICT has made an impact on enhancing the reading habits of the respondents. Further, it is found that, majority of the respondents strongly agreed that they can read more books available online, they can save time in searching information, they can get all information in their fingertips. The result shows that, the students and faculties have faced various problems in using ICT tools. The study recommends that, Higher education council and university authority may provide the latest and updated version of the computers along with continuous electricity supply with UPS connections and high Internet bandwidth facility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The library and information services of the twenty first century are rapidly changing education learning patterns because of the rapid development of electronic publishing libraries. However, the literature reveals the considerable unpredictability in experience, challenges, and awareness about E-resources among college students during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic scenario. In the aftermath of the pandemic, everyone has been forced to learn and teach E-resources in educational institutions worldwide. Along with their academic demands, college students are confronted by a lack of knowledge of handling e-learning resources and low network connectivity in remote regions. In this aspect, this study commenced to describe the experience, challenges, and awareness about e-learning resources. A descriptive and diagnostic research design was adopted and primary data was collected from college students through Google Forms with participant consent. The basic information about respondents, experience, challenges, and awareness of E-resources are tools of the study. The statistical analysis is to be carried out based on the study's objective. This analysis was used to identify influential factors and to explore the relationships between e-learning experience, and resource awareness. Subsequently, the analysis is used to discuss recommendations for enhancing the utilization of e-learning resources based on the study's findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Menstrual cups are considered a sustainable solution for menstrual health and hygiene management, as they are cost-effective, environment-friendly, reusable and offer health benefits over traditional menstrual hygiene products such as pads and tampons. However, in lower middle income countries (LMICs), menstrual cup use is limited. Recently, India's current menstrual hygiene program has included menstrual cups as an option for menstrual health and hygiene management. However, the menstrual cup has not been promoted widely in the Indian context. Even if the use of menstrual cups among female healthcare providers in India is minimal, the manuscript identified the crucial challenges in menstrual health and hygiene management, the role of menstrual cups as a solution and the essential strategies to increase menstrual cup use. Programmatic success requires endorsement from healthcare providers as they are trusted sources of information related to healthcare. Good experiences and leading examples from healthcare providers about using menstrual cups is a welcoming step in the path of the dream of a "pad-free country" for India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to medicines has become a major concern for countries worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, as pharmaceutical production and trade have been disrupted in the course of the crisis. Antibiotics are one group of medicines where worries about access have been raised. Access to the right antibiotic at the right time is important not only for curing infections of individual patients, but also for curbing antibiotic resistance globally. Reliable pharmaceutical supply is key to ensuring access to medicines. The global supply of generic medicines has over the last decades been transformed by the rise of India's pharmaceutical industry. In this paper, I trace the changing role of this industry for the global export of antibiotics, by mapping and describing changes in Indian antibiotic exports and discussing these in light of historical processes and events. The paper offers a novel approach to analyse global antibiotic trajectories by using international trade data from publicly available resources combined with a secondary literature review. I show that India's pharmaceutical industry today holds a key role as one of the world's biggest exporters of antibiotic medicines, but with an increasing dependency on China as a supplier of antibiotic ingredients. This produces both opportunities and concerns for access to antibiotics globally. • Offers a novel approach to trace antibiotic and pharmaceutical geographies. • Uses international trade data to map India's role for global antibiotics supply. • Describes that India has become one of the world's biggest exporters of antibiotics. • Shows that India is highly dependent on China for import of antibiotic ingredients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic libraries in India are facing problems due to high expectations from its users, budget limits, high costs of library materials especially electronic journals and other information resources. It is impossible for individual library to provide access to all related information to meet their users' needs. Library consortiums have been initiated in India in order to overcome these problems, and efforts to form library consortia are still in their infancy. E-resources provided by UGC-Infonet library consortium to Indian Universities have proved boon to higher education in India. This paper envisages and analyzes the usage of e-resources available in UGC-Infonet consortia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing worldwide in internet conservation, cultivation and use of medicinal, aromatic and other related groups of plants, there has been a four-fold increase in the volume of literature published on these crops during last two decades. This dynamic scenario demands constant updated inflow, documentation and management of accrued of knowledge, which is now-a-days largely available on electronic media and can be accessed through E-journals, scholarly databases, information gateway internet, E-Books, E-magazine and E-Newsletters. The current issues in MAPs research largely revolve around the production, post harvest management, value-chain alignments, profitability, efficiency and sustainability. To meet the challenges and requirements of globalization, intellectual property rights, agri-export, market intelligence and related issues adequately and successfully, developing countries like India must reorient their R&D priorities on a real time scale for which tools for fast retrieval of information must be developed for which refined on priority. An organized method for retrieval of nascent information is likely to play a very crucial role in this mission. But most of the information is highly scattered in various kind of information resources and their retrieval is so complex and cost intensive that it may not be affordable by every developing country. Therefore, efforts have been made in this paper to identify and list the electronic resources which are exclusive in nature is and are freely available on internet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to analyze the present status of the open access movement in Pakistan, identify challenges, and make recommendations for the effective use of this publishing model. The article looks primarily at the open access movement in Asia, with special reference to Pakistan, India, and China. Findings show that, since the emergence of the Budapest Open Access Initiative in 2001, the open access movement has developed rapidly at the international level. From the Pakistani perspective, gold open access, in which articles or monographs are freely available in their original form on publishers' websites, developed quickly. However, green open access, which relies on authors to self-archive their articles in institutional or subject repositories, has been relatively slow to develop. A lack of support from educational institutions, libraries, library associations, and funding bodies may explain the slow growth of green open access in Pakistan. The author recommends that Pakistani universities, research institutions, and funding agencies develop open access policies, set up institutional repositories, and encourage publishing in open access journals and self-archiving in institutional repositories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]