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1.1 INTRODUCTION AND DEFINITIONS OF

LIBRARY NETWORK
A network is developed when a group of libraries and
information centers have common interest to exchange
information through computer and communication
technology.
A library network is a collective or cooperative activity
of linking members/users to the resources hosted on
computers by means of telecommunication
connections.
The development of sophisticated technologies in
computer and communication field has upset libraries
worldwide in storing and transmitting information. The
computer and its communication circuits link to other
computer or to terminals constituting an integral
information machine. This technology introduced the
`Network System.
The explosion in the amount of literature that is
available, increases among the number of users and
their different needs, and the application of electronic
media are forcing libraries to construct and participate
in networks. Magnetic tapes, floppy disks, and CD-
ROMs provide enough data storage capacity. Retrieval
through telecommunications networks and access to
international databases are available for searching for
information on various subjects. With the advent of
networks, remote transmission of texts and graphics,
video clips and animated clips are also possible.
Network of information is to use the computer and
telecom link for transmission of information or data

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 from one library to another. Keeping this concept in
view, various library networks have been established
for cooperation and resource sharing among libraries.
They have grown mostly during the last thirty years in
different geographical environments in order to cater to
the specific needs of users.

A library network is broadly described as a group of

libraries coming together with some agreement of
understanding to help each other with a view to
satisfying the information needs of their clientele.

The National Commission on Libraries and Information

Science (NCLIS) in its National Programme Document
(1975) defines a network as: "Two or more libraries
and/or other organizations engaged in a common
pattern of information exchange, through
communications, for some functional purpose. A
network usually consists of a formal arrangement
whereby materials, information and services provided
by a variety of libraries and other organizations are
available to all potential users. Libraries may be in
different jurisdictions but agree to serve one another on
the same basis as each serves its own constituents.
Computer and telecommunications may be among the
tools used for facilitating communication among them".

UNISIST II working document, defines Information

network as:
A set on interrelated information systems associated
with communication facilities, which are co-operating
through more or less formal agreements in order to
jointly implement information handling operations with

2
 a view to pooling their resources and to offer better
services to the users. They generally follow identical or
compatible rules and procedures.

According to Martin: "A network is a group of individuals

or organizations that are interconnected. The linking
must include a communication mechanism, and many
networks exist for the express purpose of facilitating
certain types of communication among their members.
In the library world, institutions from network primarily to
achieve better sharing of resources resources
consisting of bibliographic information and of collection
and better services to patrons". It must be
emphasized that the particular focus in this gathering
will be on online networks, those using computers and
linking members to the computer resources by means
of telecommunication connections.

Raynard C. Swank defined library networks as a

Concept that includes the development of co-
operative systems of libraries on geographical, subject,
or other lines, each with some kind of centre that not
only co-ordinates the internal activities of the system
but also serves as the systems outlet to and inlet from,
the centres of other systems.

Alphonse F.Trezza defines network as a formal

organization among libraries for co-operation and
sharing of resources, in which the group as a whole is
organized into subgroups with the exception that most
of the needs of a library will be satisfied within the
subgroups of which it is a member.

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 In short, a network has been used to mean a formal
organization of group of libraries and information
centers following some common pattern or design for
information exchange and communication with a view
to improve efficiency.

1.2 NEED FOR LIBRARY NETWORKS

As a universal phenomenon, libraries the world over are
facing two major problems. These are:

Information explosion

Price escalation of library documents

Increased cost of library services

The number of publications in various disciplines,

especially in Science and Technology is alarming. It is
estimated in the past that the primary source of
literature in the field of Science and Technology is
doubling in every 15 years whereas it now doubling in
10 years. According to UNESCO statistics of World Book
Production, about three lakh books are published every
year. The number of learned journals in the field of
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science and technology alone has now come to the
tune of 60,000 adding at the rate of 1000 journals a
year approximately.

Another important problem the librarians/information

professionals are facing is the constant increase in the
prices of library documents. Since Indian libraries have
to depend mainly on foreign publications, especially in
the case of science and technology journals they have
to face sharp increase in the rates of subscription and
downward changes in the value of rupees. This hydro-
headed problems have forced the librarians and
information specialists to cut down the number of
journals they procured to manage the situation within
the available resources.

Another problem is increasing cost of library services as

costs of library services have skyrocketed, libraries
have realized that through cooperative arrangement
there is the possibility of providing new services whose
cost would be spread over many institutions. The
concept of cooperation proves much effective and
satisfies the user needs in a better way.

Thus, we notice in order to find a solution to the

problems faced by libraries/information centers
regarding information explosion and costs, library
networks have been established for cooperation and
resource sharing among libraries so that one individual
libraries may not feel burdensome while handling vast
amount of information and price escalation of library
documents and services.

5
1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF LIBRARY
NETWORKS

The basic purpose for creating a network is to provide

information services to member libraries through
sharing of resources of the participating libraries of the
network. This may lead to member libraries to depend
more on access to documents held in the other
member libraries than on depending only on their
respective collection.

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 The main aims and objectives of library network are
stated as the following:
To promote resource sharing and co-operation activities
among libraries by providing efficient and reliable
means of resource sharing, e.g.

Inter library loan for maximum use of resources

Document Delivery Services providing the copies of

the copies of the document what is not available in
their respective libraries

Manpower training and refresher course facilities

stimulating, promoting and co-coordinating research
and training programme for library staff and network
members

Access to national and international databases

Communication link through publication and inter-

personal communication.

To improve resource utilization and service level at the

individual libraries by providing automation facilities in
the following areas:

Acquisition and fund accounting

Cataloguing assist member libraries in cataloguing

of books, serials, non-book materials and catalogue
production

Serials control

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 Circulation User services implementing electronic
services in the libraries for fast communication of
information

To coordinate efforts for suitable collection

development and reduce unnecessary duplication
wherever possible. The purpose is

To develop collection by mutual cooperation

To reduce the operational cost of the collection

development

To control the rate of rising cost of the collection

development

To establish referral centers to monitor and facilitate

catalogue search and maintain a central on-line union
catalogue of books, serials and non-book materials of
all the participating libraries.

To develop a specialist bibliographic database of books,

serials and non-book materials for search and access.

To create a database of projects, specialists and

institutions for providing online information services.

To coordinate with other regional, national and

international networks for exchange of information and
documents for the use of libraries and users.

To evolve standards and uniform guidelines in

techniques, methods, procedures, hardware and
software, services and so on and promote adoption in

8
 actual practice by all libraries, in order to facilitate
pooling, sharing and exchanging resources and facilities
towards optimization.

1.4 FUNCTIONS OF LIBRARY NETWORKS

Library Networks have been established with the main
purpose of sharing resources so that unnecessary
wastage of limited finance with them can be avoided.
However, not all networks conform to the essential
functions of library networks. It is noted that the
essential functions should include the promotion of
resource sharing, creation of resource sharing tools like
union catalogues, rationalization of acquisitions and
adoption of international standards for creation of
records uniformly and delivery of documents. Keeping
these things in view, functions of a typical library
network might fall into the following three categories:

Information services to users

Technical services to member libraries

Management service to the network administration

Information and technical services are goal-oriented,

i.e. to fulfill the primary goal of the network.

Information services

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 Functions that serve the users directly, i.e. information
services to users are:

Inter-library loan service it means that each member

library may require having the facility to photocopy for
delivering the documents.

Reference and Referral each member library may

require the facility of having dedicated telephone
and/or E-mail service.

Access to databases to prepare retrospective

bibliography for the purpose of browsing to know
whether or not a document is available.

Technical Services

Functions that serve the libraries i.e. the technical

services are:

Co-operative collection development programme

Technical processing involved in acquisition

Cataloguing and other means of resources to

identify and to locate documents

Circulation control system

Management services

The management services, i.e. functions that support

the network administration are:

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 Establish an operational system that implement the
functions mentioned above

Evaluation of the networks. This is done through

collection of statistics

analysis of performance of the network

user studies

Training activities. These are done through

staff development programmes
user oriented programmes
Cost analysis
Determination of costs, fees to be collected, etc.
Allocation of budgets

Communication of activities such as

holding of meetings
Publication of newsletters, etc.

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2.1 NETWORKING OF LIBRARIES IN INDIA

Cooperation amongst institutions for sharing the library

resources is being practiced for decades to provide
cost-effective and efficient services to its users that the
libraries individually could not afford. Traditionally,
primary purpose of establishing a library network was
to share physical resources including books and
periodicals amongst members. As collaboration
flourished, the networks and cooperatives were focused
on automation, database development, resource
sharing, etc. Library cooperatives that were created
primarily for the purpose of a joint catalogue or shared
integrated library system include WALDO (1983),
WISPALS (1989), LOUIS (1992), Orbis Cascade and
SUNYConnect (1998), etc.
In India, library networks were initiated by NISSAT in
the year 1986. The CALIBNET was established in 1986
followed by the DELNET in 1988 with initial funding
from the NISSAT. Other library networks in India
include: ADINET (1993), MALIBNET (1993), BONET
(1994), MYLIBNET (1994).
Establishment of the INFLIBNET by the University
Grants Commission (UGC) in1996 as a national-level
network can be considered as a major turning point in
the evolution of library networks in India.

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2.2 INTERNET AND LIBRARIES

The basic purpose of any library is to provide the right

information to the right reader at the right time. To
meet this goal, libraries have to provide access to
information regardless of location of the information
stored. Networking plays a key role in providing such
library services. The Internet is defined as an
interconnected system of networks that connects
computers around the world via the TCP/IP protocol.
With the emergence of Internet, connectivity to the
computers at a global level and the worldwide access
to information have become possible. The user friendly
tools such as Gopher, e-mail, Telnet, FTP, and World
Wide Web (WWW) are used for processing and
accessing the information. The WWW is integrating all
other access tools and providing a very convenient
mechanism for publishing and accessing multimedia,
hypertext-linked documents stored in computers spread
across the world. Once the information is available on
the web, the accessibility from any part of the world
becomes possible. Libraries and information centers are
taking advantage of Internet developments to provide
accessibility to the library resources/information
through web.

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2.3 SHARING OF INFORMARION THROUGH
LIBRARY NETWORKS

Resource sharing is basically sharing of resources of

participating libraries on the basis of the agreement of
cooperation for the purpose of sharing the resources of
each others materials. This entails not only to share
the document resources but also facilitates services,
equipments and even the manpower among the
participating libraries. The Libraries have started using
the computers in large number and have automated
their functions and services. After the introduction of
internet in Libraries, the concept of on-line resources
was introduced and the libraries started subscribing e-
journals regularly. The traditional sources of information
i.e. books, journals, magazines are supplemented by
electronic forms of documents e-books, e-journals, e-
newspaper etc. The automated libraries get connected
to one or the other networks. A computer network
allows the user of one computer to use the resources of
another computer which may be space, database,
programs or printer. The traditional libraries were facing
barriers for interlibrary loan such as indifferences of
lending library, conservative attitude, distance,

14
 language, cost time etc. The recent developments in
Information science, Computer and Telecommunication
technologies have changed these perceptions on
account of multidimensional growth of published
documents. The modern libraries with the advanced
technology are forming library consortium for sharing
electronic resources

2.4 DEVELOPMENT OF LIBRARY

NETWORKS IN INDIA

There have been many attempts in the country in the

last two decades in computer application to library and
information activities. During last so many years,
libraries and information centres have become more
earnest to computerize their operations and services.
While NISSAT (National Information System for Science
& Technology) has been promoting an integrated
approach in library automation in the country, the
efforts have been by and large, at the institutional
level. Some of the major organizations engaged in
computerized information handling are:

BARC - Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai

DESIDOC - Defense Scientific Information and

Documentation Centre, Delhi

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 DRTC - Documentation Research and Training Centre,
Bangalore

IISc - Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

IIT - Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi, Chennai,

Kanpur)

INSDOC - Indian National Scientific Documentation

Centre, New Delhi

NIC - National Informatics Centre, New Delhi

NISSAT - National Information System for Science

and Technology, New Delhi

PRL - Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad

TIFR - Tata Institute of Fundamental Research,

Mumbai

Besides the above, University Grants Commission

(UGC), Department of Electronics, Department of
Telecommunication, Planning Commission and other
various Departments of Government of India have also
been engaged in establishing various networks. There
are possibilities of mounting bibliographical databases
on these networks for providing online access-to-
access.

The growth of Indian Library Networks may be traced to

the efforts made during the last forty years. The
chronology is given below:

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1958: Scientific Policy Resolutions 1958. It was adopted
at the instance of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. It emphasized
the fostering of scientific temper in people. In
pursuance of this agenda, several committees and
commissions were appointed to look into specific issues
and come up with necessary recommendations.

1959: Sinha Committee Report

1965: Ranganathan Report to University Grants

Commission (UGC)

1972: V A Kamath Report

1977: Establishment of NICNET by NIC (1975)

1983: Technology Policy Statement. It emphasized the

need for a technology information base.

1984: Working group of the Planning Commission

headed by Dr N Seshagiri recommended to the govt.
the need for modernization of library services and
information during Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-90)

1986: NISSAT initiated the establishment of CALIBNET,

Calcutta

1988: The National Policy in Library and Information

System submitted in 1988. It recommended using of
information technology on a national level.

1988: The UGC established INFLIBNET

1992: NISSAT supported the establishment of DELNET,

DELHI

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1993: NISSAT supported the establishment of ADINET,
Ahmedabad.

1993: INSDOC supported the formation of MALIBNET,

Chennai.

1994: NISSAT supported the establishment of

MYLIBNET, Mysore

1995: NISSAT supported the establishment of BALNET,

Bangalore

Planning Commission Efforts

The Planning Commission, Government of India, has

been taking considerable interest in library resource
sharing and library networks. Its efforts in these areas
have increased since the Seventh Five Year Plan
covering 1985-90. The Commission appointed a
working group on modernization of Library Services and
Informatics in November, 1983. In July 1984, the
working group submitted its report. It recommended
among others, interlinking of library systems through
library networks. This report was to be considered for
the Seventh Plan.

The Commission appointed another Working Group

which submitted its report in May, 1989. It again
recommended among others interlinking of library
systems in the country.

The Planning Commission appointed in Feb, 1995, a

Core Task Group to prepare an approach paper for
enhancing inputs of Science and Technology for library
resource sharing.
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The Commission again constituted a working group on
Libraries and Informatics under the Department of
Culture, Ministry of Human Resource Development,
Govt. of India, which report was to be considered for
the Ninth Plan for the period 1997-2002. The report of
the Working Group of the Commission includes many
important recommendations for the networking and
modernization of libraries in the country.

All these initiatives by NISSAT, UGC, Planning

Commission and other departments of Govt. of India
have led to increased efforts to the establishment of
library networks and library automation in the country.

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2.5 LIBRARY AND INFORMATION
NETWORKS IN INDIA

Some of the important and significant networks that

exist in India are given below:

General Networks: NICNET (1977), INDONET (1986),

I-NET (formerly VIKRAM (1991), RABMN (1991)

Library Networks (Metropolitan): CALIBNET (1986),

DELNET (1988), PUNET (1992), ADINET (1993),
MALIBNET (1993), BONET (1994), MYLIBNET (1995),
BALNET (1997)

Library Networks (Wide Area): INFLIBNET (1991)

Information Networks (Sectoral): ERNET (1986),

VIDYANET, OPNET, SIRNET, BTISNET, DESINET
(1986)

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 3.1 INFORMATION AND LIBRARY
NETWORK (INFLIBNET)

The INLIBNET Centre was initiated as a major

programme of University Grants Commission, in 1991.
At initial stage, the programme was directed towards
modernization of libraries and information centres and
establishment of a mechanism for information transfer
and access, to support scholarship, learning and
academic pursuits. In May 1996, the centre was
established as an independent, autonomous Inter-
University Centre (IUC) of the University Grants
Commission (UGC) with an objective to co-ordinate and
implement nationwide high speed network using state
of the art technologies for connecting all university
libraries in the country. Major activities and services of
the Centre include automation of academic libraries
and information centres, creation of union databases of
resources available in academic libraries, promote
resource sharing among academic libraries, promote
information access and support scholarship. The Centre
acts as a nodal agency for networking of libraries and
information centres in universities, institutions of
higher learning and R & D institutions in India with an
aim to promote scholarly communication.

21
 The Centre has made remarkable progress in its
ongoing programmes with an aim to keep abreast with
the trends and emerging technologies in information
and communication technology (ICT). The Centre has
also taken-up a number of initiatives for the benefit of
the academic community.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The primary objectives of INFLIBNET as envisaged in

Memorandum of Association are:
To promote and establish communication facilities to
improve capability in information transfer and access,
which provide support to scholarship, learning, research
and academic pursuit through cooperation and
involvement of agencies concerned.
To establish INFLIBNET: Information and Library
Network a computer communication network for linking
libraries and information centers in universities,

22
 deemed to be universities, colleges, UGC information
centers, institutions of national importance and R & D
institutions, etc. avoiding duplication of efforts.
to promote and implement computerization of
operations and services in the libraries and information
centers of the country, following a uniform standard;
to evolve standards and uniform guidelines in
techniques, methods, procedures, computer hardware
and software, services and promote their adoption in
actual practice by all libraries, in order to facilitate
pooling, sharing and exchange of information towards
optimal use of resources and facilities:
to evolve a national network interconnecting various
libraries and information centers in the country and to
improve capability in information handling and service;
to provide reliable access to document collection of
libraries by creating on-line union catalogue of serials,
theses/ dissertations, books, monographs and non-book
materials (manuscripts, audio-visuals, computer data,
multimedia, etc.) in various libraries in India:
to provide access to bibliographic information sources
with citations, abstracts, etc. through indigenously
created databases of the Sectoral Information Centers
of NISSAT, UGC Information Centers, City Networks and
such others and by establishing gateways for on-line
accessing of national and international databases held
by national and international information networks and
centers respectively;
to develop new methods and techniques for archival of
valuable information available as manuscripts and
information documents in difference Indian languages,
23
 in the form of digital images using high density storage
media;
to optimize information resource utilization through
shared cataloguing, inter-library loan service, catalogue
production, collection development and thus avoiding
duplication in acquisition to the extent possible;
to enable the users dispersed all over the country,
irrespective of location and distance, to have access to
information regarding serials, theses/dissertation,
books, monographic and non-book materials by
locating the sources wherefrom available and to obtain
it through the facilities of INFLIBNET and union
catalogue of documents;
to create databases of projects, institutions, specialists,
etc. for providing on-line information service;
to encourage co-operation among libraries,
documentation centers and information centers in the
country, so that the resources can be poled for the
benefit of helping the weaker resource centers by
stronger ones; and
to train and develop human resources in the field of
computerized library operations and networking to
establish, manage and sustain INFLIBNET.
To facilitate academic communication amongst
scientist, engineers, social scientists, academics,
faculties, researchers and students through electronic
mail, file transfer, computer/audio/video conferencing,
etc;

24
 To undertake system design and studies in the field
of communications, computer networking, information
handling and data management;
To establish appropriate control and monitoring
system for the communication network and organize
maintenance;
To collaborate with institutions, libraries, information
centers and other organizations in India and abroad in
the field relevant to the objectives of the Centre;
To promote R&D and develop necessary facilities and
create technical positions for realizing the objectives of
the Centre;
To generate revenue by providing consultancies and
information services; and
To do all other such things as may be necessary,
incidental or conducive to the attainment of all or any
of the above objectives.

GOVERNANCE
The Centre is governed by its Governing Board and
Governing Council. The Finance Committee, a
subcommittee of the Governing Board, looks after the
financial aspects of the Centre. Constitution and major
responsibilities of these three committees are described
below:

Governing Council

25
Governing Council (GC) is an apex body of the Centre
chaired by its President, ex-officio Chairman of the UGC.
The Council has seven ex-officio members and three
nominated members. The members of the Governing
Board are also members of the Council, as such; total
number of members of the Council is 21. The
nominated members of the Council serve for a term of
3 years. The Director, INFLIBNET is the Member-
Secretary of the Council. The Council meets once in a
year. All members of Governing Board are also member
of Governing Council.

Governing Board

Governing Board (GB) manages, administers, directs

and controls the affairs of the Centre as per Rules and
Bye-laws of the Centre. The Governing Board is headed
by a Chairperson, who is an eminent academician in
the areas of relevance to the Centre and is appointed
by the President of the Council. The Governing Board
has six ex-officio members and seven nominated
members who are nominated by the Chairman, UGC.
The Director, INFLIBNET is the Member-Secretary of the
Board. The Governing Board meets at least twice a
year.

Finance Committee

The Finance Committee (FC) is a sub-committee of the

Governing Board and consists of seven members. It has
seven ex-officio members and one nominated member.
The Chairman of the Governing Board is also the
26
 Chairman of the Finance Committee. The Administrative
/ Accounts Officer of the Centre are the Non-member
Secretary of the Committee. The Finance Committee
makes recommendations to the Governing Board on i)
Budget proposals of the Centre; ii) Scrutiny of the
Audited Accounts and replies to the annual Audited
Report; iii) Approval of sanctioned and additional
positions; and iv) any other matter on which the Board
seeks its recommendations. The Finance Committee
meets at least once a year. The minutes of the
Committee, after approval by the Governing Board are
forwarded to the UGC for examination, approval and
release of grants to the Centre.

ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES OF INFLIBNET

Automation of University Libraries

The University Grants Commission, on recommendation

of the INFLIBNET Centre, had supported 142
universities during IX Plan period and 24 universities
during XI/XII Plan periods for automation of their
libraries with software and training support from the
INFLIBNET Centre. The total funds allocated to 24
universities for automation of their libraries during
XI/XII Plan period is Rs. 195.60 lakhs including Rs. 6.50
lakhs for purchase of equipment (PCs, Servers,
Accessories, Scanner, etc.) and Rs 1.65 lakhs recurring
grant for five years for each of the 24 universities. The
Centre proactively helped these universities to
automate their libraries.

27
 Research Projects Database

The Research Project Database provides details of

completed and ongoing projects carried out by faculty
members working in universities and institutions across
the country. The Centre gets project details along with
the project reports in print/digital formats from the
project investigators of Minor Research Projects (MRP)
funded by the UGC. The softcopy and print copy of the
project reports are available at the INFLIBNET Centre
for walk-in users. Project Investigators of the UGC
funded Minor Research Projects (MRP) were requested
to submit softcopies and print copies of their project
reports. Project Investigators, whose project reports
were received, are acknowledged and their project
details were added into the database available at
(http://www.inflibnet.ac.in/researchproject/)

Human Resource Development & Consultancy

One of the important objectives of the Centre is to

impart training in the use of ICT to library and
information science professionals working in university
and college libraries. So far, include annual
conventions, training programmes, workshops and
seminars focusing on the library automation,
networking, e-resource awareness, theses repositories,
institutional repositories, etc. have been conducted
benefiting many participants. INFLIBNET Regional
Training Programmes for Library Automation (IRTPLA)
and User Awareness Programmes were conducted
across the country in collaboration with the universities

28
 and colleges. National and International Conventions
called PLANNER in North-eastern regions and CALIBER
in various states of India are being organized biannually
as part of the human resource development activities.
The Centre also conducts Training Programmes on
SOUL Installation and Operations for Libraries.

VIDWAN: Expert Database

VIDWAN: Expert Database is the premier database of

profiles of scientists and faculty members working in
leading academic institutions and other R & D
organizations involved in teaching and research in
India. It provides important information about expert's
background, contact address, skills and
accomplishments.
The objective of this database is : i) quickly and
conveniently provide information about experts to
peers, prospective collaborators, funding agencies,
policy makers and research scholars in the country; ii)
to establish communication directly with the experts
who possess the expertise needed by research
scholars; iii) to identify peer reviewers for review of
articles and research proposals; iv) to create
information exchanges and networking opportunities
among scientists; and v) to discover prospective
collaborators for on-going research projects.
Persistent attempts are made to provide relevant,
accurate and updated information about experts. Web
enabled interface has been developed to facilitate the
search and browsing of profiles of experts. The
database can be searched on parameters such as

29
 name, designation, area of expertise, organization,
state, etc. Profiles of experts can also be browsed using
Web of Science subject categories and organization
categories. Login IDs and passwords have been issued
to experts whose profile is available in the database
with a persistent URL enabling them to update their
profiles.

IndCat: Union Catalogue of Indian Universities

The three components of the union catalogue

maintained by the Centre are:

Union Catalogue of Books

The union catalogue of books has two subsets namely
GujCat and NERCat that are separately designed on
demand of the concerned regions:
The GujCat, a subset of IndCat, is unified online library
catalogue of books available in major
college/institute/university libraries within Gujarat
state. Guj-Cat contains bibliographic description,
location and holding information of books available in
libraries in Gujarat.
The NER-Cat, an online catalogue of books in
universities in North-Eastern Region, is another subset
of IndCat. NER-Cat is designed and implemented to
restrict searching of bibliographic records to university
libraries in North-Eastern region so as to promote
resource sharing amongst university libraries in North-
Eastern region.

30
Union Catalogue of Serials
The INFLIBNET Centre maintains union database of
serials that provides bibliographic information of
journals subscribed in various universities and
maintains the information in three categories, namely
Serials Holdings and Current Serials and e-journals.

Union Catalogue of Theses

The Union Catalogue of Theses consists of bibliographic
records of doctoral theses submitted to the universities
in India.
Searches can be performed on title, words in title,
author, subject, ISBN, location, place and publisher in
the union database of books through IndCat interface.
The IndCat interface facilitates restricting the search to
collections available within an individual university as
well as for expanding the search to universities in a
given state. By default, the interface searches all
bibliographic records of documents available in IndCat
for all the participating universities.

Search Interface for Books, Theses, Serials & Video

Databases

31
 Bibliographical Details in MARC Format

Bibliographic Details of a Searched Record

SOUL 2.0

The SOUL 2.0 (Software for University Libraries) is

state-of-the-art integrated library management
software designed and developed by the INFLIBNET
Centre based on requirements of colleges, universities
and other academic libraries. It is user-friendly software
developed to work under client-server environment.
The software is compliant to international standards for
bibliographic formats and circulation protocols. After a
comprehensive study, discussions and deliberations
32
with the senior professionals of the country, the
software was designed to automate all house-keeping
operations in a library. The software is suitable for the
academic libraries as well as for all kinds of other
libraries.
SOUL 2.0 is compliant to international standards such
as MARC 21 for bibliographic format, Unicode based
Universal Character Sets for multilingual bibliographic
records and NCIP 2.0 and SIP 2 based protocols for
RFID, electronic surveillance and control.
The SOUL 2.0 was released in January 2009 and was
well received by the academic libraries in India.
During the year under report, several new features
were added to SOUL 2.0 as well as several minor
enhancements were done in reporting and other
functionalities. New updates of the software are made
available through the SOUL 2.0 website at no additional
cost to existing users.
SOUL has adopted by Directorate of Libraries for their
all public libraries as well as Department of Technical
Education. State Governments of Madhya Pradesh,
Haryana and Andhra Pradesh have fully automated
their libraries using SOUL Software.
A separate website is maintained that provides detailed
information about SOUL 2.0 along with the updates of
software. During the period under report, More than 5
online as well as offline updates have been provided to
the user community as per changes required in SOUL
2.0 like bug solution, general feature implementation,
etc.

33
 Website for SOUL 2.0

Consortia-based Subscription to E-resources

The INFLIBNET Centre has set-up two separate

consortia, namely UGC-Infonet Digital Library
Consortium and its college component, National
Library and Information Services infrastructure for
Scholarly Contents (N-LIST) to extend access to e-
resources to universities and colleges respectively. Two
separate consortia were established not only to cater to
the diverse needs of two sets of institutions, namely
universities and colleges, but also to satisfy the
requirements of different economic models. A brief
description of the two consortia is given below:

UGC-Infonet Digital Library Consortium

The UGC-Infonet Digital Library Consortium was
launched by Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, the President of

34
India during December 2003. The UGC-Infonet Digital
Library Consortium provides current as well as archival
access to more than 8,500+ core and peer-reviewed
journals and 11 bibliographic databases from 28
publishers including commercial publishers, scholarly
societies, university presses and aggregators in
different disciplines. The programme was implemented
in a phased manner. In the first phase that began in
2004, access to e-resources was provided to 50
universities who had Internet connectivity under the
UGC-Infonet Connectivity programme. In the second
phase, 50 more universities were added to the
programme in the year 2005 as additional universities
got Internet connectivity through UGC-Infonet
Connectivity programme. So far, 212 member
institutions including 14 National Law Schools/
Universities and 5 IUCs of the UGC, are being provided
differential access to subscribed e-resources. These e-
resources cover almost all subject disciplines including
arts, humanities, social sciences, physical sciences,
chemical sciences, life sciences, computer sciences,
mathematics and statistics, etc. The programme is
wholly funded by the UGC and executed by the
INFLIBNET Centre. The Centre has also initiated Inter-
Library Loan (ILL) through J-Gate Plus. The J-Gate Plus
provides article-level access to all articles published in
journals subscribed by the UGC-Infonet Digital Library
Consortium as well as content in journals subscribed by
26 university libraries designated as ILL Centres of the
INFLIBNET Centre.
The Consortium has also launched its Associate
Membership Programme wherein private universities

35
 and other research organizations are welcomed to join
the Consortium for selected e-resources.

N-LIST (National Library and Information Services

Infrastructure for Scholarly Content)
The Project entitled "National Library and Information
Services Infrastructure for Scholarly Content
(N-LIST)" graduated to be a regular scheme of the UGC
as college component of the UGC-Infonet Digital Library
Consortium. Earlier, the project was jointly executed by
the UGC-Infonet Digital Library Consortium, INFLIBNET
Centre and the INDEST-AICTE Consortium, IIT Delhi with
financial support from the Ministry of Human Resource
Development under its National Mission on Education
through ICT. The N-LIST project, using a highly
innovative access model, provides access to 6,328 e-
journals and 97,333 e-books to all Govt.-aided as well
as non-aided colleges through a proxy server installed
at the INFLIBNET Centre. Electronic resources
subscribed under N-LIST project covers all relevant
areas taught in colleges such as arts & humanities,
social sciences, physical and chemical sciences, life
sciences, computer sciences, political sciences, library
and information science, law, business, mathematics,
statistics, etc.

Open Access Initiatives

The current system of scholarly communication inhibits

rather than promote access to scholarly information at
a time when technology can enable vast improvement
in access, speed of publication and save the cost of
publication. The present model of publishing is
36
essentially a monopoly of publishers that is driven by
the need to publish rather than the need for more
information. The open access has emerged as a
promising alternative to the current model of scholarly
publishing that provides free access to scientific
information to its users. The open access publishing
model offers access to full-text of journals free of
charge to the user through well-organized and
professionally managed web interfaces. The essential
premise of open access movement is that the scientific
community and society in general benefits from the
open exchange of ideas and information unaffected and
unencumbered from the limitations of subscription
costs, licensing arrangements and copyright inherent to
the traditional model of commercial journal publishing.
Open access journals and institutional repositories are
two routes of open access publishing system.
Open-access journals are considered as golden route
for providing access to peer-reviewed journal literature
in electronic format free-of-charge without any
restriction of access. Institutional repositories
considered as green route to open access publishing,
are being set-up in research institutions with
anticipation that the faculty and researchers would
submit their preprints or post prints of articles that are
either accepted for publication or already published in
traditional printed journals. The open access initiatives
at the INFLIBNET Centre are working towards spread of
open access movement in universities and institutions
of higher learning. The Centre continued all the
initiatives that were started in the previous years.
These initiatives as described below:

37
Open Journal Access System (OJAS)
The INFLIBNET Centre has installed and configured
Open Journal System (OJS), open source software for
electronic publishing of the journals, to facilitate
hosting of electronic version of journals into open
access mode with all processes of submission, peer-
reviewing, editing, layout designing and publishing built
into it. The initiative encourages universities and
institutions that are publishing journals in print format
to use the platform for hosting electronic version of
their journals free-of-cost on servers at the INFLIBNET
Centre. The initiative also encourages faculty in
universities to start their own open access journals
using this platform.
During the period under report, INFLIBNET Centre
received ten new requests for hosting journals on
OJAS platform out of which four are in review process,
four were rejected and two journals were selected for
hosting on OJAS Platform.

Shodhganga: A Reservoir of Indian Theses &

Dissertation
Shodhganga is a digital repository set-up for
submission of electronic version of theses and
dissertations by students / research scholars in
universities in India and make them available in open
access to the world-wide academic community in
response to the UGC Notification (Minimum Standards
& Procedure for Award of M.Phil. / Ph.D Degree,
Regulation, 2009) where-in the responsibility of
maintaining the digital repository of Electronic Theses
and Dissertations (ETDs) is assigned to the INFLIBNET
38
 Centre. Shodhganga is set-up using DSpace, an open
source software, that uses internationally recognized
protocols and interoperability standards. The repository
provides a platform to research scholars in universities
to deposit, re-use and share their theses and
dissertations. Figure 33 depicts the home page of
Shodhganga website.

Shibboleth based Access Management System

The INFLIBNET Access Management Federation (INFED)

is designed to protect the privacy of users while giving
both Service Providers and User Organizations sufficient
assurance that requirements such as licenses and
acceptable use policies can be enforced. The
Shibboleth architecture chosen for the INFED is
designed to protect user privacy. However, the
measures it provides can only be effective if they are
used and respected by User Organizations, Identity
Providers and Service Providers.
The federation and its website (parichay.inflibnet.ac.in)
have been created with all documentation. Identity
provider has been created for N-LIST user and has been
successfully tested with few publishers. At present it
has been tested with a handful of service providers and
available in production mode. INFLIBNET access
management federation has also joined eduGAIN.

Website Development & Maintenance

39
 The Centre uses web technology to provide organized
and structured access to its services and resources to
the academic community through the Centres Website
as well as through websites of its individual services
and products. The Centres Website is designed to work
as an integrated interface for all services and resources
accessible to the academic community in the
universities and colleges. The Web Development team
has especially been set-up for designing innovative web
based interfaces for effective and efficient delivery of
services using the latest web-based tools and
technologies. The Group undertakes all activities
related to selection, organization and presentation of
services and resources in a meaningful way for the
benefit of the user community.

Revamping of the UGC Websites and

Development of Grant Management System and
e-Scholarship-Fellowship Award Registration
Tracking System (e-SARTS)

The University Grants Commission has given the

responsibility for development and maintenance of
website of the UGC as well as for automation of its
various schemes, Grant Management System and e-
Scholarship-Fellowship Award Registration Tracking
System (e-SARTS). The project was awarded to the
INFLIBNET Centre in the month of May 2011. The
Centre has set-up a dedicated server for the UGC web
site and schemes which is co-located at the Data
Centre of the BSNL, Ahmedabad.

40
 E-Learning and e-Content Development

E-PG Pathshala
The MHRD, under its National Mission on Education
through ICT (NME-ICT) has allocated funds to the UGC
for development of e-content in 77 subjects at
postgraduate level. One subject comprises of 16 papers
and each paper consist 30-35 e-modules i.e. equivalent
to 40 hour lectures. This is a first of its kind single
largest extensive project, in terms of number of
modules to be developed and subjects to be covered in
India. High quality, curriculum-based and interactive
content are being developed in different subjects across
all disciplines of social sciences, arts, fine arts and
humanities, natural & mathematical sciences,
linguistics and languages under this initiative named e-
PG Pathshala. The Learning Management System for e-
PG Pathshala is available in open access and hosted on
INFLIBNET server as well as through Sakshat Portal.

E-Acharya: Integrated e-Content Portal

A portal to host all e-content project, developed /
funded under the National Mission of Education through
ICT is developed by the INFLIBNET Centre under the
initiative called e-Acharya: Integrated e-Content
Portal. There are more than 70 projects on e-content
under NME-ICT which are developed/ being developed
in various subject disciplines (Science, Arts,
Engineering, Social Science, etc.) through various
Indian institutes/universities/colleges.
The portal provides facility to search and browse all e-
content hosted on the portal wherein a learner can
easily access the desired material including audio/video

41
learning material, textual material, multimedia enriched
materials, etc. through a single interface. Moreover,
features of faceted search, usage statistics, and
project-wise access are incorporated in this portal.
Features of learning experience such as Learners
Corner / My Account, mobile apps, syllabus based
access are being incorporated. The Centre has acquired
content from more than 25 principal investigators who
have developed content with funding from NME-ICT.

W
ebsite of e-PG Pathshala

42
 Website of e-Acharya: Integrated e-Content
Portal
Institutional Repositories Customizations and
Support

The INFLIBNET Centre is assisting institutions of higher

learning in the process of creation and maintenance of
institutional repositories. The Centre is using self-
developed expertise in open source software like
DSpace, Linux, Perl and Java. Under this initiative, the
Centre has installed and customized Institutional
Repository for various institutions.
Besides, the Centre also provides proactive help and
support to many institutes like Indian Institute of
Advanced Study, Fiji National University, and Space
Application Centre, OP Jindal Global University over
phone and via remote login to setup their repositories
on their own. The Centre has provided training on
DSpace to the professionals working at G.B Pant
University, Pantnagar and Manonmaniam Sundaranar
University as a part of Attachment Training Programme.
During the year under report, the Centre has extended
this service to one of the prestigious defence

43
 establishment besides others. The Centre has
successfully carried out the project of platform up
gradation and security enhancement of institutional
repository (DIGITAP project) hosted at
NASDO, Indian Navy, Goa.
This group is also responsible to support and maintain
INFLIBNET Centres Institutional Repositories as well as
other open access initiatives like Shodhganga and
Shodhgangotri.

Publications

The INFLIBNET Centre has two major publications i.e.

Quarterly Newsletter and Annual Report.
Both publications were brought out and distributed to
the academic community of the country. The copies of
the newsletters and annual reports downloadable in
PDF format are available at the Publications on
INFLIBNET website at
http://www.inflibnet.ac.in/publication/. The copies of
Annual Reports, PLANNER and CALIBER proceedings are
also available through the Institutional Repository (IR)
in PDF format. The course materials of various training
programmes and workshops, lecture notes,
presentations and newspaper clippings are also
available in the IR of the Centre at
http://ir.inflibnet.ac.in:8080/dxml.

INFLIBNET Virtual Classroom

INFLIBNET Centre has started INFLIBNET Virtual

Classroom in the previous year to provide online
training to academic users by delivering online lectures
44
through A-VIEW classroom software. The objective
behind the INFLIBNET Virtual Classroom is to provide
training over the Internet to users in academic
institutions. It means that the participants or lecturers
need not be present physically in classroom; they can
attend the session while sitting on their premises.
Scientists of the Centre interact with users in
universities and colleges on various activities and
functions of the Centre including N-LIST, UGC-Infonet
Digital Library Consortium, Library Management
Software (SOUL), OJAS, Union Catalogue (IndCat),
Shodhganga and Shodhgangotri, etc. INFLIBNET Centre
has conducted 7 lectures on different modules of SOUL
software, DSpace and different activities of INFLIBNET
Centre. Lectures may also be arranged based on
demand from the user community.

CONCLUSION

The Centre has added new dimensions to its ongoing

programmes and activities that were due for a long
period of time. The INFLIBNET Centre has also taken a
number of new and timely initiatives for providing
effective and efficient information support to the higher
education community in Indian universities it serves.
Functionalities of copy and online cataloguing were
added to the IndCat, the union catalogue of the
INFLIBNET Centre. Second version of SOUL, called SOUL
2.0, was released after a gap of 10 years with emphasis
on after-sales services and support. Associate
membership of the UGC-INFONET Digital

45
Library Consortium, launched in 2009, facilitates
private universities and other organizations to join the
Consortium and subscribe to desired resources on
payment basis. Internet connectivity to the universities
was enhanced from maximum of 2 Mbps to 10 Mbps
with switching over of ISP from ERNET India to BSNL. In
nutshell, the Centre has done noteworthy job in past
couple of years that has duly been recognized by the
academic community in India. The
N-LIST programme, extends access to scholarly content
to colleges in a highly imaginative and cost-effective
manner, regular scheme of the UGC-INFONET Digital
Library Consortium as its college component The
Centre has gone full throttle to promote and support
open access movement through Shodhganga,
ShodhGangotri, IR@INFLIBNET and OJS@INFLIBNET
Centre. All open access initiatives taken by the
INFLIBNET Centre has great potential to grow into major
knowledge bases on research conducted in Indian
universities. Open source R & D activities of the Centre
holds great promises for the LIS community in India.
The Centre has entered the world of Web 2.0 and
Library 2.0 with implementation and integration of
several Web 2.0 tools into the Centres Web site.

46
INFLIBNET's Website

47
 3.2 DEVELOPING LIBRARY
NETWORK (DELNET)

DELNET (Delhi Library Network) was started at the India

International Centre Library in January 1988 and was
registered as a society in 1992. It was initially
supported by the National Information System for
Science and Technology (NISSAT), Department of
Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India.
It was subsequently supported by the National
Informatics Centre, Department of Information
Technology, Ministry of Communications and
Information Technology, Government of India and the
Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
In Delhi the libraries had been growing very fast in
number and site during 1950-1990. They cater to
specialized and general clientele and were of various
types which include institutional libraries, research
libraries, government libraries, public libraries,
departmental libraries and libraries of the universities,
colleges and schools.

During late 1980s, cumulative information had been

increasing at a very fast pace and with it the increase in
demands of the users. It had been noticed that in the
era of information explosion the libraries in India are
generally ill equipped to handle and retrieve
information effectively. As already mentioned, the
financial resources and the space for housing library
collections were limited in almost all of the libraries.

48
The option left with the forward looking librarians had
been to promote the sharing of resources by
automation and networking. Initially, 40 libraries were
directly linked to the DELNET host system through e-
mail to promote library mailing, interlibrary requests,
transfer of files, exchange of messages, interlibrary
services, etc. Side by side with the automation of
participating libraries, the functions and services had
also started. During 2000 about 90 libraries were
members of DELNET. Almost all participating libraries
were computerized by means of acquisition and fund
accounting, cataloguing, circulation, serials control and
local users services. Users were able to locate books
and serials through Online Public Access Catalogue
(OPAC). A union catalogue of current periodicals
available in Delhi libraries, and a union list of current
serials available in Indian libraries were available on
online for DELNET participant libraries. A central
database of DELNET had been created and made
operational. This central database includes the library
holdings of DELNET member libraries used as union
catalogues of books/monographs.

DELNET used to provide access to the central union

catalogue for books and monographs, efficient
electronic mailing facilities to access databases of
member libraries. It also proposes to develop a network
for accessing CDROM databases available at member
libraries in the near future. DELNET also provides CAS
and SDI services, consultancy in library
computerization, training and H.R.D. and assistance to
libraries on standardization, local automation,
retrospective conversion etc. DELNET is likely to
49
emerge as a cooperative network incorporating all
disciplines of science, technology, social sciences and
humanities.

DELNET has been actively engaged with the

compilation of various Union Catalogues of the
resources available in member-libraries. It has already
created the Union Catalogue of Books, Union List of
Current Periodicals, Union Catalogue of Periodicals, CD-
ROM Database, Database of Indian Specialists,
Database of Periodical Articles, Union List of Video
Recordings, Urdu Manuscripts' Database, Database of
Theses and Dissertations, sample databases of
language publications using GIST technology and
several other databases. The data is being updated in
these databases and is growing rapidly. All the DELNET
databases have been resident on DELSIS, an in-house
software developed on BASIS Plus, an RDBMS, the
product of Information Dimensions Inc. of USA which
has been provided to DELNET courtesy National
Informatics Centre, New Delhi. DELNET provides an
array of facilities. DELNET'S relentless efforts in
resource sharing have proved extremely effective. It
has contributed a lot towards the modernization of
libraries in India. DELNET was the first institution in
India to introduce MARC 21 standards among the
libraries. Special training programmes are also
organized from time to time in the use of MARC 21
Standard.

Any institution/library interested in using DELNET

resources for borrowing books from libraries, getting
photocopies of articles and for research and reference,

50
and willing to contribute records of its library holdings
for resource sharing purposes among institutional
members of DELNET can join as an institutional
member of DELNET.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The limitation of financial resources and space for
housing library collections in the libraries in Delhi, led
to the promotion of sharing of resources by automation
and networking and establishment of the DELNET in
1988. NISSAT took the initiative in setting up DELNET. It
has emerged as an important resource centre for the
libraries in Delhi. DELNET has been established with the
prime objective of promoting resource sharing among
the libraries through the development of a network of
libraries. It aims to collect, store, and disseminate

51
information besides offering computerized services to
users, to coordinate efforts for suitable collection
development and also to reduce unnecessary
duplication wherever possible.

The Main Objectives of DELNET are:

To promote sharing of resources among the

libraries by developing a network of libraries, by
collecting, storing and disseminating information
and by offering computerized services to the users;

To undertake scientific research in the area of

Information Science and Technology, create new
systems in the field, apply the results of research
and publish them;

To offer technical guidance to the member-libraries

on collecting, storing, sharing and disseminating
information;

To coordinate efforts for suitable collection

development and reduce unnecessary duplication
wherever possible;

To establish /facilitate the establishment of referral

and /or research centres, and maintain a central
online union catalogue of books, serials and non-
book materials of all the participating libraries;

To facilitate and promote delivery of documents

manually or mechanically;

To develop specialized bibliographic database of

books, serials and non-book materials;
52
 To develop databases of projects, specialists and
institutions;

To possess and maintain electronic and mechanical

equipment for speedy communication of
information and delivery of electronic mail;

To coordinate with other regional, national and

international networks and libraries for exchange
of information and documents;

ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES

Union Catalogues and Databases

DELNET offers access to more than two crore records of

books, periodicals, articles, theses and dissertations,
video-recordings, sound-recordings and other
databases. These are accessible worldwide through the
Web. Any registered user of DELNET can search these
databases through their allotted login and password.
These union catalogues; union lists and databases are
updated on a regular basis and so grow in size. DELNET
has introduced an online facility for uploading of the
library databases to DELNET for merging in the
Centralized Union Catalogues.
Union Catalogue of Books
DELNET maintains an online union catalogue of books
available with its Member Libraries. The union
catalogue is continuously updated and is growing in

53
size. It can be accessed by author, title, subject,
conference, series, etc. and also Boolean Operators can
be used. It contains about 2, 28, 45,202 bibliographic
records at present. Inter-library loan requests for books
are placed online. Requests are also received through
e-mail.
Union List of Current Periodicals
DELNET has created union list of current periodicals in
science and technology, social sciences and
humanities. This database is available online. It lists
37,847 titles of periodicals, both national and
international and is regularly updated. It is a major
source for Document Delivery Service for articles.
Union Catalogue of Periodicals
DELNET maintains a union catalogue of periodicals,
which contains full holdings data of the libraries. At
present, the database contains 20,235 records.
Database of Periodical Articles
The database has details of articles which can be
searched under the title, author, compiler, name of the
periodical and subject. The database is being
extensively utilized by the researchers and scholars. At
present the database contains 9, 22,042 records.
CD-ROM Database
A bibliographic database of CD-ROMs available with the
member-libraries is being compiled. It has 22,234
records.
Union List of Video Recordings

54
This is a database of video cassettes available in
DELNET member-libraries and has about 6,000 listings.
Union List of Sound Recordings
This union list consists of audio cassette records
available in member-libraries. This database has 1,025
records.
Database of Theses and Dissertations
A database of Theses and Dissertations submitted to
Indian Universities has been started, which covers
various subjects. The database has 81,074 records.
Union List of Newspapers
The database has 70 records and contains information
about the newspapers including title, name of the
editor, published from, E-mail address and also the Web
address of the INTERNET edition if available on the
WWW.
Database of E-books It has nearly 1613 records.
Profile of Member-Libraries A directory of member-
libraries is available and contains information about
them.
Delnet also provides access to
Cambridge Dictionaries online
Networked Digital Library of Theses and
Dissertations
ODLIS: Online Dictionary of Library & Information
Science
GISTNIC Databases
MEDLINE & other databases of NLM

55
 U.S. Patents: Full Text
Full Text Medical Journals
Open Access Journals
Engineering & Technology E-Journals: Table of
Contents
Full-Text Medical Books
Full-Text Engineering & Technology E-journals
Learning Resources for LIS Professionals
Digital Libraries of the World

Software

DELNET offers software solutions to libraries for library

management and retro-conversion purposes. These
softwares are based on MARC-21, AACR-II and LCSH
standards. DELNET software products are created to
enable libraries to automate their libraries. These
softwares perform necessary and sufficient operations.
DELNET provides DELPLUS Software free of charge to
the member-libraries for Library Automation purposes.
It has Acquisition, Cataloguing, Circulation, OPAC,
Report Generation modules and can also be integrated
with Bar Code solutions. Those libraries that are
interested in using
DELNET software products are advised to get in touch
with us.
DELNET has developed several softwares in the past,
but at present serves the following:
DEL-PLUS

56
 Software designed and developed exclusively to
work under all kinds of libraries.

Free up gradation

Follows internationally recommended standards

and formats such as MARC 21

Best for small and medium size libraries which

have collections up to one lakh holdings.

Barcode enabled.

This software is easy to work with and comprises the

following modules:

Acquisition

Cataloguing

Circulation

OPAC

Administration

Export/Import

Authority Control

Article Indexing

Report Generation

Stock Verification

57
KOHA - Customized Version

Inter-Library Loan and Document Delivery

Services

DELNET offers Inter-Library Loan and Document

Delivery Services to its member-libraries. ILL requests
can be registered online for books. For the resources
not available in the union catalogues and journal
articles database, requests can be sent to DELNET
through E-mail. DELNET has also prepared ILL
guidelines for use by member-libraries. The ILL/DDS
services are quite popular among the member-libraries
in and outside India.

Consortia Service

DELNET also provides consortia service through which it

provides access to different commercial databases on
special consortia rate. These databases provided,
include Cambridge Dictionaries online, Networked
Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations, ODLIS :
Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science,
GISTNIC Databases, MEDLINE and other databases of
NLM, U.S. Patents: Full Text, Full Text Medical Journals,
Open Access Journals, Engineering and Technology E-
Journals: Table of Contents, Full-Text Medical Books, Full-
Text Engineering and Technology E-journals, Learning
Resources for LIS Professionals, Digital Libraries of the
World etc.

Retro-Conversion

58
DELNET undertakes retro-conversion projects
selectively.

Reference Services

DELNET maintains a referral centre which provides

reference facilities to participating libraries. This centre
also looks after the access to the central databases and
provides prompt replies.

Professional Training

DELNET arranges tutorials, workshops, lectures, and

training programmes every year from time to time
besides the National Convention on Knowledge, Library
and Information Networking (NACLIN). DELNET also
offers the announcements of the International
Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
(IFLA) and Library Science jobs globally. This
information provides inputs to library and information
professionals for improving their talent and professional
expertise.
DELNET Coordination Units

DELNET has Coordination Units in Bangalore,

Hyderabad and Pune to coordinate the interlibrary loan
services and also the visits to the members institutions
in the nearby regions are made from time to time.

Technical Support

DELNET adopts the latest dependable technologies in

Information Science. This helps libraries to get advice
from DELNET in order to adopt technologies that

59
emerge periodically. It saves expenses and time of the
Member-Institutions. DELNET also offers technical
advice to Member- Institutions in the selection of
hardware, software, communications links, etc. and
solves technical problems faced by Member-Libraries
from time to time.
Database Creation

DELNET advices the participating libraries on the

creation of bibliographic databases, as we consider that
for effective networking, standard bibliographic data
should be available in machine-readable form with the
libraries. Periodic meetings are organized to discuss the
problems being faced by Librarians.

Publications

NACLIN Proceedings
The proceedings of the National Convention on
Knowledge, Library and Information Networking
(NACLIN) are published every year since 1998. The
volumes are available on sale. Twenty per cent discount
is given to Libraries.

DELNET Newsletter
The DELNET Newsletter is published to spread the
message of library networking and increase the
awareness about latest developments in this field. The
Newsletter is also a forum for communication on the
advances, achievements and needs of the modern-day
libraries and their services.

Director's Report

60
The Director's Report is published every year since
1993.

Other Publications
Important publications based on seminars and
researches are published periodically.

National Bibliographic Database

DELNET undertook the compilation of the National

Bibliographic Database with the support of the
Department of Culture, Government of India in 1998 as
a Pilot Project. Fifty thousand records of books: 20,000
in English, 15,000 in Tamil and 15,000 in Punjabi were
created at the Punjabi University, Patiala and
International Institute of Tamil Studies, Chennai. At
Andhra University Library, Visakhapatnam, 15,000
records in English and 10,000 records in Telugu were
also created. Similarly 25,000 records each were
created at the Asiatic Society, Mumbai and the Asiatic
Society, Kolkata.

Research

DELNET conducts research in the following areas:

Use of International Standards

DELNET was the first to introduce in India the use of
MARC 21 standards among the libraries. Special
training programmes are organized from time to time in
the use of MARC 21 Standard.

Open Source Software

61
DELNET gives training in the use of Koha-an Open
Source Integrated Library System and DSpace for
building Digital Libraries. DELNET also offers
consultancy to libraries in implementing these Open
Source Software.

Creation of Union Catalogues and Union Lists

DELNET has been creating research tools for scholars
and users in the form of union catalogues and union
lists and these are widely used. The details are given in
the section on Services.

DELNET Initiatives

Networking of AICTE Approved Institutions

DELNET signed an MOU with the All India Council for
Technical Education (AICTE) in 2001 to modernize and
network through DELNET all libraries of the technical
institutions approved by AICTE in the country.

National Bibliographic Database

DELNET undertook the compilation of the National
Bibliographic Database as a pilot project with the
support of the Department of Culture, Government of
India in 1998. Records were created in Tamil, Punjabi,
Telegu, Sanskrit, Bengali and English.
Knowledge Centres
DELNET promotes the establishment of Knowledge
Centres and offers consultancy for setting up
Knowledge Centre.

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63
 DELNETs Website

3.3 Ahmedabad Library Network

(ADINET)

Libraries are slowly turning into an information

exchange hub of an organization, rather than earlier
role of a "store house" of knowledge. Knowledge stored
in the form of invaluable books, journals, other
information materials and the latest e-resources is
showcased in the library for its users. Boundaries of the
libraries are expanding beyond four walls and library
professionals are gearing up to take up the challenge of
using it in disseminating authentic, latest and right kind
of information to users.
With the rapidly growing advancements in every field,
more and more documents are becoming available the
world over, in both printed and electronic format. No
library can afford to stock every necessary document in
the area of its users' interests, but it certainly can

64
provide a 'link' to the user to locate desired
information. Networking and resource sharing thus
assumes a great importance at this juncture and such a
solution is being effectively provided by ADINET to the
users and librarians specializing in any discipline of
knowledge and available anywhere in the world.
ADINET is a Network of Libraries and Information
Centers in Gujarat. It was established in 1994 with an
initial grant for a few years from National Information
System for Science and Technology (NISSAT),
Department of Science and Industrial Research,
Government of India, New Delhi. It caters to all types of
Libraries: school, college, universities, institutional
libraries and even public libraries. Hence, access is
provided to hundreds of libraries, librarians and
organizations through the ADINET Network.
The main vision of ADINET is to join Libraries, to enable
them to achieve what cannot be done by one library
alone. This will help them to harness their limited
resources and collective strengths so that Libraries can
continue to play their historic role as society's portal to
information. ADINET therefore promotes sharing of
resources and disseminates valuable information by
networking libraries.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The main objectives of AIDNET are:
To Integrate the Economic, Scientific and Technical
Information Systems into an effective network
65
 To Co-Ordinate with other regional and national
Networks, Libraries and Information Centers by
providing links especially to OPAC's of Libraries.
This will provide seamless connection and
universal electronic access to the collective
collection of Libraries, together with Web-based
Material.
To provide Library Consultancy Services like
creation of Website, Institutional Repositories, etc.
This will be of great help to Small Libraries.
To develop Databases of AV Materials and
Institutions.
To prepare Products and Services for the Library
Profession.
To help Library and Information Center users and
also Individuals who practice different professions
in Getting Specialized Information of their interest.

ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES

Document Delivery and Inter Library Loan

ADINET enables users to locate

periodicals/books/reports, so that these can be
borrowed on Inter Library Loan.

Content Pages of Library and Information Science

journals are regularly supplied to all members. Full

66
 texts of selected articles from content pages are
supplied.
Supply of Photocopies from journals published by
more than 19 major publishers which cover over
five thousand journals.
Manpower Development Programs
Completion of backlog of any work of Library and
Information Centers
Digitization Work
Retro conversion Data entry of Catalog Cards
Quarterly Seminars on Current Trends in Libraries.
Librarians' Day Celebration

Each year ADINET Celebrates the Birth Anniversary of

Dr. S.R. Ranganathan as Librarians' Day, by conducting
a Seminar on An Important Current Topic.
ADINET is maintaining a Database of over 5500 Current
Periodicals received by over 140 Libraries in and around
Ahmedabad.

ADINET Website has been redesigned with

Vital Links to Important Databases

The following useful information is available on the

Website:
Directory of Libraries & Information Centers.
Union List of 5540 Journal Titles.
Directory of Librarians.
Open Access Resources.
Current Contents for Library and Information
Science (CUCOLIS).
ADINET Newsletters.

67
 Power Point Presentations of Monthly Lecture
Series.

Events @ ADINET

From time to time ADINET organizes various events

which are useful for both Libraries and Librarians.
These events are unique and are different from the
other programs.

Publications

ADINET Publication comes under this section. Below are

the Main ADINET Publications:
Newsletter
Cucolis
Book of Paper

68
ADINETS Website

69
 3.4 EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
NETWORK (ERNET)

ERNET India is the National Research and Education

Network dedicated to support the needs of the research
and education community within the country. It was
established in 1998 as an autonomous scientific society
under the Department of Information Technology,
Government of India. It operates ERNET network a
pan-Indian terrestrial and satellite network with 15
points of presence at premier research and academic
institutions. Focus of ERNET India is not limited to just
providing connectivity, but to meet the entire needs of
the academic and research institutions by providing
consultancy, project management, training and other
value added services such as web hosting, email
services, video conferencing, domain registration, CUG
services.
ERNET India is serving more than 1300 institutions in
various sectors, namely, health, agriculture, higher
education, schools and science & technology. ERNET
was also identified by Govt. of India as the nodal
network for India and was connected through high-
speed link to the pan-European Education and Research
Network (GEANT) during 2006 to 2010. The
ERNETGEANT connectivity is now available through
Trans Eurasia Information Network (TEIN3).
ERNET was initiated in 1986 by the Department of
Electronics (DoE), with funding support from the

70
Government of India and United Nations Development
Program (UNDP), involving eight premier institutions as
participating agencies NCST (National Centre for
Software Technology) Bombay, IISc (Indian Institute of
Science) Bangalore, five IITs (Indian Institutes of
Technology) at Delhi, Bombay, Kanpur, Kharagpur and
Madras, and the DoE, New Delhi.
ERNET began as a multi protocol network with both the
TCP/IP and the OSIIP protocol stacks running over the
backbone. Since 1995, however, almost all traffic is
carried over TCP/IP. ERNET (Education and Research
Network) has made a significant contribution to the
emergence of networking in the country. It practically
brought the Internet to India and has built up national
capabilities in the area of networking, especially in
protocol software engineering. It has not only
succeeded in building a large network that provides
various facilities to the intellectual segment of Indian
society the research and education community, it has
over the years become a trendsetter in the field of
networking. UNDP has lauded ERNET as one of the
most successful programmes it has funded. The Govt.
of India has committed itself to further strengthen the
project by including it in the 9th Plan with the allocation
of funds and by creation of a new organizational setup
in the form of a Society. The Science community of the
country has also recognized ERNET's contribution both
for infrastructure services as well as for R&D. In 1998, it
became an autonomous scientific society ERNET India
under the administrative control of Department of
Information Technology, Govt. of India.

71
MISSION, VISION, AND OBJECTIVES
Vision of ERNET is to advance Indian Research and
Education by operating and developing world class
Networks, Applications and Services.

ERNETs mission is to provide Network Infrastructure

Services and Connectivity addressing the requirements
of Indias Research and Education sector facilitating
them to become increasingly efficient and effective in
their chosen field. Undertaking cutting edge Research
and Development in networking and its applications.
Also development of Human Resources in networking.

Main objectives of ERNET are:

Operations of National Academic and Research
Network: Providing a world class reliable, robust
and state-of-the-art Network Services to Academic
and Research institutions of the country.
Research and Development in the area of Data
Communication and its application.
Human Resource Development in the area of
Networking.
Consultancy and implementation of ICT Projects for
target Users.

ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES

In tune with the mandate ERNET is providing four types

of services, namely, Access Services, Application

72
Services, Hosting Services and Operations Support
Services to all Educational and Research Community of
India. ERNET provides access to its network through
various connectivity options. Application services
include Email hosting, domain registration, MPLS VPN. It
also provides Web Services having state of art of Data
Centre. Other services include IT Consultancy and
Project Management services for establishment of IT
infrastructure & converged Network Projects.

Connectivity

Communication is the key-in more ways than one. And

a prerequisite for communicating is a connection, a
link. ERNET India supports different connectivity options
to connect wider user bases located even in remote
areas.

The various connectivity options available to ERNET

users are:

Terrestrial Link: This kind of connectivity is suitable

where telecom network is well developed and
dedicated leased line can be hired from DOT or other
basic service providers. Such links are primarily for
64Kbps and 2Mbps speed.

Radio Link: This kind of connectivity requires line of

sight clearance from the network node to the
concerned site. Radio links are very reliable and
operational cost includes only maintenance of the
equipment and a nominal license fee to DOT.

73
VSAT links: Two types of VSAT links are being provided
for Internet & Intranet access:
(a) TDM/FTDMA based Broadband VSAT links
(b) SCPC DAMA VSAT links
About VSAT links
ERNETs Satellite based Wide Area Network ERNET
India operates a VSAT network in C-Band using INSAT
satellite for providing Internet & Intranet access to
education and research institutions located all over the
country. Its Mater Earth Station (MES) and Network
Operation Centre (NOC) is equipped with 9.2 meter
antenna and is connected to ERNET terrestrial
backbone through a dedicated high speed link at
Bengaluru. The VSAT network provides two types of
links/services, viz., TDM / FTDMA based Broadband
VSAT and SCPC DAMA VSAT.
Distinguishing feature of VSAT links provided by ERNET
India: ERNET VSAT Network operates in C-band of
satellite transponder space, therefore VSAT links
provided by ERNET India are least affected by rain and
other weather conditions. Our VSAT links provide a high
degree of reliability and continuous operation all over
the country. Our VSATs work efficiently even in difficult
and far flung areas of Andaman and Nicobar &
Lakshadweep Islands in all weather conditions.

(a) TDM/FTDMA based Broadband VSAT

ERNET TDM/FTDMA based Broadband VSAT network is
based on the most recent, advanced & the industry
leading product, The Sky Edge- from Gilat Satellite
Networks, Israel. The architecture of the network is a
two-way star topology. The Broadband VSAT links have

74
common outbound capable of reaching up to 66Mbps. It
supports all standard IP applications such as broadband
Internet/Intranet, VoIP, IP multicast, video conferencing,
etc. These VSATs are cost effective and capable to
provide bandwidth up to 2Mbps.

(b) SCPC DAMA VSAT ERNET SCPC DAMA VSAT network

is based on the most recent, advanced & the industry
leading product, The Skylinx 8000 from Viasat Inc.,
USA. In Single Channel per Carrier Demand Assigned
Multiple Access (SCPC
DAMA) VSAT, Mesh & Star type point to point
connectivity can be setup by configuring DAMA
modems. Both
Outbound and Inbound carriers are dedicated in SCPC
DAMA VSAT for bandwidth assignment to the institute.
The DAMA VSAT is capable of providing bandwidth up to
6.0 Mbps (3 channels each of 2Mbps) with one
additional voice channel for voice communication. It is
suitable for large institutions. .

MPLS VPN

With the evolution of multiprotocol label switching

(MPLS) which provide greater control over network
parameters such as bandwidth, latency and availability,
Virtual Private Networks(VPN) are poised to herald a
radical shift in the world of network. MPLS VPN has
emerged as a trusted WAN connectivity option to
replace conventional network based on point to point
links. MPLS based VPNs reduce customer networking
complexity, costs. Rather than setting up and managing

75
individual point to point circuits between each office
using pair of leased lines, MPLS VPN customers need to
provide only one connection from their office to all
other affiliated campuses.
ERNET now offers MPLS VPN as services to offer
assured bandwidth upgrades to its customers without
having to make significant investments. Video
Conferencing, Voice over IP (VoIP) and a host of other
value added services can be used over MPLS VPN in
closed user group.

Advantages of MPLS VPN over other Technologies:

Make the service very simple for customers to use
even if they lack experience in IP routing.
Make the service very scalable and flexible to
facilitate large-scale deployment.
Provide a reliable and amenable service, offering
SLA to customers Capable of meeting a wide range
of customer requirements, including security,
quality of Service (QOS) and any to any
connectivity.
Capable of offering fully managed services to
customers.

Web Hosting

ERNET India is providing web hosting services to the

various Educational/Academic & Research Institutes,
Departments / Organizations.

Web Hosting Infrastructure: ERNET INDIA has setup

a huge web hosting infrastructure in its state of the art
IDC(Internet Data Centre) which includes a large

76
number of performance tuned, hi-end and secured
servers The Data Centre is connected to Internet on a
high speed/bandwidth.

Domain Name: Domain name space under ernet.in

is owned by ERNET INDIA, ERNET INDIA offers Domain
Name Registration under ernet.in free of charge as a
part of its hosting services. The web hosting services
are also extended on other domains like AC.IN, EDU.IN,
RES.IN, GOV.IN, ORG.IN, etc. If the site has to be hosted
on any of the above mentioned Domains, the User
Department has to get the Domain Name registration /
renewal done through Domain Registrar. ERNET India is
the domain registrar for EDU.IN, RES.In & AC.IN These
domains can be registered through ERNETs domain
registration group. Details of domain registration can be
obtained from www.registry.ernet.in. Once the
registration process is over, the site will be hosted on
the desired Domain Name.

Hosting Platform: Web Hosting services are offered

on Linux & Windows Platforms and the servers are
powered with the state-of-the-art web technologies
such as CGI, Perl, PHP, ASP, ASP.NET, JSP, Tomcat etc.
Popular Databases like MS SQL, MySQL are also
supported. Windows hosting platform supported.

Security Audit of the hosted Web Contents: It is

mandatory to get the website audited by a certifying
agency for content security. As a part of this security
audit, the procedure /programs used inside the
concerned website /application are checked for any
security vulnerability and appropriate remedial
77
measures are suggested by the auditor. To ensure
utmost security, no website can be hosted on the
ERNET web servers without undergoing the mandatory
Security Audit.

Remote Publishing Facility: This facility allows you

to update and maintain your site at your own
convenience from the comfort of your office or any
other remote location through VPN (Virtual Private
Network) or through Emails.
IT Consultancy

ERNET India provides consultancy services to cover

entire range of Information Communication Technology
(ICT) spanning OSI model from Physical to Application
layer. Range of Services includes Defining the ICT
Roadmap as per functional requirements, project
conceptualization, and Network Design, Security
Architecture, Enterprise Management and Customized
requirements to meet specific business needs of the
institution/clients.
Services in the aforesaid technology areas includes:
Framing It strategies & policies, requirement analysis,
Planning and System Study, Design and architecture of
System, translating requirements into technical
specification, Procurement Consultancy,
Implementation and Migration Planning. ERNET India
has developed demonstrable expertise through
successful implementation of ICT projects in sectors as
higher education, agriculture, health & medical
research, research and Schools.

Campus Wide Networking

78
The institutions of higher learning need to reap the
benefits of internet revolution through integrating ICT
into the learning environment. The focus is to improve
the quality of education and laying a good foundation
at the higher learning institution and encourage the
institution and its affiliated colleges to share the
resources, knowledge content, promotion and
implementation of e-governance, faculty development
and exchange of skills. All the IT resources and content
should be available to the faculty and students from
their desk as well as anywhere anytime basis over the
campus. To achieve the same, the
universities/colleges/institutions need to establish
Campus network at their campuses. It is very helpful for
the universities/colleges and institutions to work from
any block/building and receive the same speed of data
transfer. A typical campus network or campus area
network is a computer network made up of an
interconnection of local area networks (LANs) within a
limited geographical area. The networking equipments
(switches, routers, firewalls, IPSs) and transmission
media (optical fiber, copper cable) are used to
interconnect & communicate among all devices
connected.
In a college or university/institution, its campus area
network is likely to interconnect a variety of campus
buildings, including administrative buildings, academic
buildings, university libraries, campus or student
centers, hostels, guest house, gymnasiums, and other
outlying structures, like conference centers, technology
centers, stadiums, and training institutes.

79
Campus networks are interconnected with high speed
Ethernet links operating over optical fiber such as
Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Tiered
hierarchal architecture is used to establish Campus
network with core, distribution & access segments for
efficient flow of information & data traffic. All buildings,
blocks, centers, hostels, residential complex, hostels
are connected through high speed fiber optical cable
and all nodes inside a building are connected through
UTP copper cable support gigabits speed. Seminar
halls, conference rooms and common areas in the
campus are Wifi enabled through deployment of
secured 802.11 based wireless access points with
centralized authentication to allow secure network

80
access through laptops and Wifi enabled devices.
Internet & all applications/services are deployed at
central locations from where faculty, staff and students
access them using their desktops & laptops anytime
from anywhere in the campus.

Email Hosting

ERNET India provides hosting of email accounts to suit

a wide variety of institutional and organizational needs
enabling users in your organization to send or receive
email. The email accounts are created under the fully
qualified domain of user institute (e.g. xyz [at]
urcompany.com). All users will have their own
password, protected mailbox storage area. ERNET India
provides the most effective and feature rich email
services at affordable rates.

Training

The functions of ERNET India are characterized by

advanced technologies of diverse nature in the field of
high-end & next generation networks, LAN/WAN,
Campus Networks, ICT and Voice/Video conference
systems. Technology is advancing very fast and with a
view to keep updated with the latest technology ERNET
India undertakes training activities either through its
own resources or through external agencies.
ERNET India has also organized a number of training
programs catering to specific requirements of its user
communities from various domains belonging UGC,
ICAR, Defence, KVKs, etc.

81
 Network

ERNET India is running MPLS enabled dual stack (IPv4

and IPv6) backbone. The ERNET backbone
interconnects
ERNET Point of Presence (PoP) spread throughout the
country. The ERNET PoP at STPI, Bangalore integrate
ERNET VSAT network with ERNET terrestrial network.
ERNET has deployed many overlaid network over its
backbone. The domestic traffic is routed via NIXI
whereas international traffic from each PoP is routed
out as ERNET is peering with upstream service
providers at each PoP for faster access to Internet.
Following are salient features of ERNET backbone:
MPLS Enabled
Supports dual stack of Ipv4 and Ipv6
High Capacity Backbone
Scalable, Secure and Guaranteed QoS
Supports Ipv4/Ipv6 MPLS VPN Services
Enabled for Multicast

Projects

ERNET has conceptualized, developed and

implemented large number of projects on turnkey basis
for various Educational Institutes and Research
Organization. Several National and International
Projects have been done by ERNET India.

National
ICT Vocational Centres for Disabled Students

82
 ICT Centres for rural Schools
Repository of Digital Library
CICVV
Cyber Forensics
E-Linkage of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas
E-Linkage of Kendriya Vidyalayas
E-Linkage of Krishi Vigyan Kendras under ICAR
Data Centre
Campus Network
Video Conferencing
6LowPAN
Mobile IPv6
VSESS

International
TEIN3
MY FIRE
EU-India Grid

Research and Development

ERNET India is actively involved in research and

development in the field of computer networking.
Current areas of interest include high speed
networking, network management, wireless sensor
networks, future internet research, mobility in IP
networks, cloud computing etc. The R&D efforts
initiated by ERNET core groups have resulted in product
development and technology transfer to the industry.
The following are the ongoing R & D projects:
My-FIRE
EU-India Grid
6LoWPAN

83
 Mobile IPv6
Earlier Project

ERNETs Website

84
 3.5 MADRAS LIBRARY NETWORK
(MALIBNET)

MALIBNET has been conceived to overcome the

problem of resource crunch in the libraries and to
provide information at a low cost to the users in and
around Chennai. As a universal phenomenon, libraries
in the region are facing two major problems: Knowledge
explosion and the consequent information explosion
and Price escalation of library documents.
These problems have forced the information specialists
to cut down the number of journals they procured to
manage the situation within the available resources. In
order to find a solution to these pressing problems, the
concept of automation and co-operation are proved
much effective.

85
Faced with challenge of meeting of the growing
information demands of user community and obviating
the problem of resource crunch in libraries, a
mechanism for sharing the resources was
contemplated. The idea of forming a network of
libraries in Madras was conceived during 1991 by
academicians and scientists. MALIBNET (Madras Library
Network), a registered society was formed in 1993 to
bring about cooperative working among libraries and
information centres in and around Madras, networking
them to share their resources.
Presently 93 libraries in Madras are contributing
actively to the creation of various databases in
MALIBNET. With the help of communication links and
sophisticated information technology, the resources of

86
the member libraries are shared and made available to
users.

AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The main aim of MALIBNET is to facilitate resource

sharing and information dissemination by establishing
network of libraries, and thus helps fostering growth in
the field of Information science and Technology.
Following are the main objectives of MALIBNET:

To encourage co-operation among libraries,

documentation centers and information centers in
Chennai so that the resources can be pooled for
the benefit of helping the weaker resource centers
by the stronger ones.
To evolve a network, interconnecting various
libraries and information centers to improve
capability in information handling and services.
To provide reliable access to document collection of
libraries by creating a union catalogue of library
holdings and housing it in a centralized host
system of the network.
To provide better access to bibliographic
information through access to national and
international databases.
To optimize information resource utilization through
shared cataloguing, and inter library loan services
and avoiding duplication in acquisition to the
extent possible.

87
 To centrally acquire information, specially the
contents and abstracts from all the journals and
then disseminate information as and when
required, thus avoiding duplication in journal
acquisition and reducing the expenditure of
individual libraries.
To organize conferences, lectures, workshops and
seminars.
To undertake scientific research in the field of
library & documentation.

ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES

MALIBNET provides the following services:

General Services
Access to list of current serials subscribed in 50
libraries
Full journal holdings of these libraries
Access to specialized database giving article index
with abstracts
Door delivery system for document copies
Access to International databases through INSDOC
Contents, Abstracts & Photocopies from about
1200 important journals under CAPS service
Contents information of journals supplied
as per user's choice
Each subscription covering 20 journals
Contents data supplied in hard copy form,
through E-mail or in diskette with retrieval
software

88
 12 dispatches under one subscription
Standing order based/Demand based Abstract
service from journals
Full text of journal articles from member libraries
supplied within 48 hours
Creation of specialized databases at user's request
Library automation
Training courses
Consultancy in networking and computerization

Services available free of cost to members

Electronic Mail (E-mail)

Free exchange through E-mail among all member
libraries and Network Service Center
MALIB Card
Enables card holder to consult member libraries provide
free access to MALIBNET resource centers
Online Access
Free online access to all the MALIBNET databases
Free CAPS service
Free dispatch of contents information of journals
through E-mail

Databases Information services

MALIBNET has following databases:

Directory Database of Current Serials
Contents Database
Specialized database for Automotive Industries
NUCSSI (National Union Catalogues of Scientific
Serials in India)
Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Abstracts (MAPA)

89
 Patents Database
Polymer Science Database

MALIBNET Freeware

MALIBNET's worldwide database information services

can be utilized by users around the world by placing
their orders through the cost effective mechanism of
E-mail. In order to place their orders, users may
request for MALIBNET freeware software customized
to run on Dos, Windows & UNIX platforms. For this
purpose, they have to send an email to MALIBNET.
Users will receive two emails from MALIBNET. One is
a 'readme' mail and the other is the freeware
software in encoded form. The 'readme' email
provides all the necessary instructions required to
decode and get an executable version of the
freeware software. Freeware software can be
executed on the system (DOS/Windows/UNIX) at the
user end to avail MALIBNET services. The Freeware
software contains:
Information on MALIBNET
Member Institutions of MALIBNET
Services Offered on MALIBNET
MALIBNET Registration Form
Fee Structure for Members & Non Members
Order Registration Forms

Network based Information Services

90
Content Search Service

This allows a search on the contents database existing

at MALIBNET. It contains nearly 500 online journals. The
journal list is provided to the user in the Freeware
software. This database is searchable through journal
title, year, volume & issue. Results are sent back to the
user through E-mail. Requests for availing these
services can be made by filling up the data entry forms
for these services provided in the MALIBNET freeware
software supplied to the user. Users can start availing
MALIBNET services after they become registered users
of the MALIBNET. On registration, each user is given a
unique code number & password.
Literature Search Service

This is a keyword based search service on four

MALIBNET databases namely Contents, Autoabst,
Polymer Science & Patents. Users can specify the
keywords to include and keywords to exclude as well as
specify the period to be covered in the search. Users
can also specify the maximum number of references
needed. Contents database holds article index of
approximately 500 journals. Autoabst (a Specialized
Database for Automotive Industries) is very useful for
research professionals and industrialists. This database
covers valuable national and international journals and
currently has 10,000 records. The Patents database
covers around 40,000 records and the keyword based
search can give details like the inventor, country code,
patent number, international classification code etc.

91
The Polymer Science Database is a database on
polymer science and related scientific areas.

Document Procurement Service

MALIBNET provides full text of articles from S & T

journals. To avail this service, users are expected to
provide the details of journals, year, volume, & issue
along with page numbers. The charges for this service
are very nominal. Requests for availing these services
can be made by filling up the data entry forms for these
services provided in the MALIBNET freeware software
supplied to the user. Users can start availing MALIBNET
services after they become registered users of the
MALIBNET. On registration, each user is given an unique
code number & password.

International Databases

Apart from querying its own databases, MALIBNET also

extends search on international databases through
DIALOG, DATASTAR and STN International to its users. It
provides current and constantly updated information.
These databases include bibliographic, commercial,
statistical, full text, patents and variety of other
databases. Information on Consumers, Export/Import
data, Exporter/Importer list, Product information,
Market Information can be supplied. Users will have to
specify the keywords to search, unwanted aspects in
the search, their affordable cost for the search etc.
through the data entry forms in the MALIBNET
Freeware. The charges depend on the actual cost

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incurred in searching the International databases
through Dialog, Data star or STN International.

Internet Services

MALIBNET also provides search on Internet for users

requesting information found at various sites on the
net. This service provides Directory list, Patents
Abstract Search, Literature/Bibliographic search, Library
Catalogues, File transfer, Data and Software Archives,
Information about Companies, Organizations and
Associations, etc. The users specify the keywords to
include and exclude their affordable cost and short
descriptions on the nature of search. The cost incurred
is calculated in terms of the time spent in accessing the
required information on the Internet. MALIBNET also
provides attractive discounts for its users on this search
regularly. Requests for availing these services can be
made by filling up the data entry forms for these
services provided in the MALIBNET freeware software
supplied to the user. Users can start availing MALIBNET
services after they become registered users of the
MALIBNET. On registration, each user is given a unique
code number & password.

Seminars/ Meeting/Events

MALIBNET also organizes seminars and meetings time

to time for the benefit of Library and Information
professionals.

The following training courses are being held by

MALIBNET for the Library and Information staff and
interested users:

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 Library Automation and Networking

Windows and Internet

Computer Networking, UNIX & E-mail

Internet

MALIBNET can also organize specialized training

programmes at customers institutions.

Membership

Membership is open to Universities, Colleges, R&D

Institutions, Industries and Individuals.

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MALIBNETs Website

95
 CONCLUSION

Networking has become necessary, it is not possible for

a single library to procure the full range of library
resources required by their users, increasing cost and
avoiding duplication, colleges in and around Nagpur
should have network. Colleges having similar subject
areas should come together and develop a networked
environment.
College librarians should take some initiatives to
automate their libraries so that they can keep space
with changing trends of LIS. If they could complete the
library automation stage then they can build a network
to have a global visibility.
College librarians should know the existing networks
available in India and also aboard and take the
membership of some of the functional networks to
provide the information services to their users in this
global era.
The purpose of library network is to promote resource
sharing among member libraries by coordinate efforts
for suitable collection development and reduce
unnecessary duplication wherever possible. The
purpose of the library network is to provide network
based services to Users, document Delivery Services,
bibliographic Information Services, and human
Resource Development.

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 REFERENCES

Nair, Raman. lnternet for library and information

services. Ess Ess publication, New Delhi, 1999.
Kaul, H.K. Library Resource Sharing and Networking.
Virgo Publication, New Delhi, 1999.
Aswal, R. S. Information Network in India. Ess Ess
publication, New Delhi, 2003.
Baruah, A. Computer Networking in Libraries. Kalpaz
Publications, 2002.
Developing Library Network, http://delnet.nic.in/
Ahmedabad Library Network. http://www.alibnet.org
Madras Library Network.
http://www.malibnetonline.com/
Information and Library Network Center.
http://www.inflibnet.ac.in/
Education and Research Network. http://
www.ernet.in/

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