time for a coordinating nissat - npl news and events ... · c/opid, new delhi-110012. shri p.o....

NISSATNEWSLETTER

Vol .11 No. 3 July-September 1992

Editorial Committee

Dr A. LahiriJt. Adviser (NISSAT)Department of Scientific & Industrial ResearchNew Delh i -110016

(Smt) S. RavindranDept. of Scientific & Industrial ResearchNew Delhi-110016.

Shri B.G. Sunder SinghDept. of Scientific & Industrial ResearchNew Delhi-110016.

Shri S. Nagarajan, PresidentSociety for Information Sciencec/oPID, New Delhi-110012.

Shri P.O. Bose, Secretary,Society for Information Sciencec/o Agricultural Extension Information System, MAN-AGE NIRD Campus Hyderabad -500030

Shri R.N. SharmaSociety for Information Sciencec/oPID, New Delhi-110012.

Editor: Ram D. Taneja

Editorial Office: S-371, Greater Kailash-I,New Delhi-110048.

© 1992 DSIR, New Delhi.

Published by the Society for Information Science onbehalf of National Information System for Science &Technology (NISSAT).DSIR, Government of India,Technology Bhawan,New Delhi-110016.

NISSAT Newsletter, published quarterly, is the officialorgan of NISSAT, and is aimed at disseminating infor-mation concerning programmes, activities andachievements of NISSAT as also of the variouscentres functioning under it. Additionally, it attempts toproject major developments in the field of informationscience at nationa! and international levels.

Communications concerning the Newsletter may beaddressed to Dr A. Lahiri, Jt. Adviser (NISSAT), De-partment of Scientific & Industrial Research, Govern-ment of India, Technology Bhawan, New MehrauliRoad, New Delhi-110016. Material published in theNewsletter can be reproduced with due acknowledge-ment to the source.

Time for a CoordinatingMechanism

During the last five years, library and informationactivities in the country have entered a new era.Individual libraries are coming out of the proverbialBerlin Wall around them. They are trying to form a largercommunity in an effort to tackle the ever increasingdemands for better services quantitively and qualitativelyin an environment already overstrained by pecuniarypressures. Forced, motivated, or logic driven, thelibrarians are coming out in larger numbers from theirshell.

This has resulted in discernible change in theinformation scenario. Now a large number of libraryresource sharing networks like the Metropolitan AreaNetworks such as CALIBNET (Calcutta), DELNET(Delhi), BONET (Bombay), PUNENET (Pune),MALIBNET (Madras), HYLIBNET (Hyderabad), ADNET(Ahmedabad), and countrywide ones like ERNET(Educational and Research Institutions), SIRNET (CSIRLaboratories), INFLIBNET (Universities and ResearchInstitutions) and DESINET (Defence Laboratories), andsectoral ones like BTISNET (Biotechnology) andTIFACLINE (Technology per se), are under variousstages of conceptualisation, design and development. Ahost of agencies like the NISSAT/DSIR, Dept. ofElectronics, INSDOC/CSIR, DESIDOC/DRDO, DBT,NIC, and TIFAC/DST, are involved. Looking fromparticipant's, side, it is common to find an institutionparticipating in more than one network. For example,CDRI Lucknow has already access to NISSAT networks,SIRNET and BTISNET

It is likely that development of various networkswould eventually lead to proliferation of hardware,software, formats and codes, unless conscious decisionare not taken across the board. Further, every networkwould make its own efforts in manpower, developmentoften drawing much more heavily than the existing smallpool of resources can support.

A flexible collective coordination mechanism isrequired to be established well before the situation getsout of hand. This body (in line with UK office of LibraryNetworking: UKLON) could also arrange standardcourses to support manpower requirements of allnetworks. NISSAT plans to take initiative in this regard.

— A. Lahiri

NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO 3, 1992

NISSAT

NEWSLETTER

V o l . 1 1 No. 3 July-September 1992

CONTENTS

Time for a Coordinating Mechanism 1

And Now It's PUNENET 3

Information Systems and Data Management CISMOD-92 7

APINMAP Network to be Strengthened: Management Board Identifies Priority Areas 8

Visual Communication for Education and R & D— INFOTEK Workshop 9

CALIBNET Convenes Brain-Storming on RETROCON 10

Recent Publications 12

News and Events 16

NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 3, 1992

... And Now It's PUNENET

Following the launching of DELNET and withCALIBNETon the way, the library automation andnetworking movement in India is surely catchingon. While a feasibility study report on Automationand Networking of Libraries in Poona Metropoli-tan Area (PUNENET) is ready for implementation,a plan of Action for Bombay (BONET) has alsobeen worked out.

The concept of library networking to aid infor-maion resourcesharing and support activities in librar-ies has become a real necessity. The shortcomingsobserved mainly relate to two aspects :

a) Non-avaialability of materials and services,and

b) Efficient administrative control.

In India, the need for resource sharing has beenwell recognised but the technology options availabletill now were limited. NISSAT has already taken upnetworking of libraries in Calcutta (CALIBNET) andDelhi {DELNET). NISSAT is due to launch PUNENETin Pune and BONET in Bombay. A feasibility studyreport on 'Automation and Networking of Libraries inPoona Metropolitan Area' was submitted by PoonaUniversity. It has been reported by nineteen librariesthat they have funds for automation. The objectives ofthe proposed system are :

a) Better utilization of funds through sharing ofresoruces by creation of commonly usable data-bases and communication between libraries.

b) Automating the functions of individual librariesat a local level for effective and efficient servicesto the users.

The existing resources in libraries in PoonaMetropolitan area are given in the Table 1.

Networking

The implementation of this networking plan is tobe achieved in four phases :

1. Getting the libraries as well as theusers tunedto resource sharing via network centred arounda central host computing facility.

2. Cost involved3. Introduction of computer culture in the librar-

ies.

Network Services

Union CatalogueCurrent Awareness and SDIAuthority DataLibrary Aulomation

Acquisition and Fund AccountingSerials ControlBooks and Journals MaintenanceCirculation — Issue, Return, Reservation,User Services

Table 1 Libraries in Pune City

Holdings

< 50000

50000-100000

100000-300000

> 300000

Total

Category

Very Small

SmallMedium

Big

Number

34

10

6

2

52

Percentage

65.38

19.23

1 1 . 5 4

3.85

Manpower

193

125

1 1 1

103

532

Percentage

36.28

23.50

20.86

19.36


ociences38

General

Social Sciences1 6

Humanities6

•• Medical

L_H AgriculturalPhysical & Engg

Bio & Chem. Sc.

Fig: 1 Discipline-wise Breakup of Libraries in Pune City

NISSAI NEWSLETTER NO. 3, 1992

Creation and maintenance of BibliographicDatabases

Inter-library User ServicesDocument Transfer/CopyAccess to National/international Databases

Implementation

In Phase-O, about 20 libraries as listed belowwill be provided with E-MAIL facility through Dial-upmodems for off-line query.

Jayakar Library, Poona University PUJL

National Institute of Virology NIVNational Centre for Radio Astrophysics NCRAElectronics Dept., Poona Univ. PUELLaw College ILSMaharatta Chamber of Commerce &IndustriesNational Chemical LaboratoryNational Facility for Animal TissuesCulture Centre

MCCI

NCL

NFA

Bio-Informatics Distribution InformationCentre BIO (DIC)

PUST

Research and DevelopmentEstablishment (Engineers) RDEECentral Water & Power Research Station CWPRS

GIPE

Bhartiya Agro Industries Foundation BAIFInter University Centre forAstronomy & Astrophysics IUCCA

National Informatics Centre NICVasantdada Sugar Institute VSIMaharashtra Association for theCultivation of Science MACSCentre for Development of AdvanceComputing C-DAC

Shwanirao Chavan Academy ofDevelopment Administration YASHADA

The advantages of introducing Phase-0 are :

— Low cost start of the networking

— Introduction of the culture of inter-library loanand

— Introducing networking culture as a result ofwhich more libraries could come forward toexpand the network.

In Phase-1, the following are to be accompli-shed:

1. Introduction of computer culture in the librar-ies.

2. Setting up of the central host.

3. Creation of Union Catalogue.

4. Procurement of hardware and site prepara-tion for individual libraries.

5. Setting up communication software.

6. Networking of central host and libraries for off-line query.

7. To select a suitable software to managelibrary and information activities.

8. The Central host may select about a dozenimportant libraries and start creating centralbook database. The computerisat6n of retro-spective conversion will have to be done bythe individual libraries which will be mergedon selective basis at central host.

In Phase-2, the following should be achieved:

1. Creation of local databases.

2. Conversion of off-line query to on-line queryfor the users of the libraries who have ma-chines set up and connected to the network.

3. Updation and maintenance of Union Cata-logue.

In Phase-3, the automation of all libraries can beundertaken which would include the software imple- 5mentation and training of library personnel.

NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO 3. 1992

Communication Linkages

The PUNENET will get linked partiallythrough X-25 PSE control switch (which will havethe following configuration) and partially through1-NET (Fig. 2)

1. One Packel switch—12 ports each2. Four pad—8 ports each3. X-25 controller with suitable software4. One port of PSE will be connected to 1-

NET with two lines and two stand by lines.

PUN E N E T

IITM ME.RADO

Fig. 2 Communication Linkages


Information Systemsand Data Management

CISMOD - 92Bangalore

The third International Conference onInformation Systems and Management of Data,organised by INSDOC and Institute of Engineers(India), Karnataka State Centre, was held atBangalore from 20 July to 23 July 1992. Theconference provided a forum for exchange ofexperience and expertise in the field of informationsystems and management of data, focussed onemerging trends in this area and delineated furtherdirections. About 60 delegates from R & D centers,academic institutions and industries including a fewfrom Australia, France, Spain, U.K., U.S.A. and theNetherlands participated in the conference..

Pre-Conference TutorialsA feature of the event was pre-conference

tutorials, specifically arranged to provide an insightinto the database management techniques andvarious aspects of information systems. The topicsof the four tutorials were: Semantic DatabaseModels and Systems; Fact-oriented SchemeDesign; Framework of Information systemsConcepts and Object-Oriented Data Modelling. Thefaculty for the tutorial sessions comprised Dr.C.S-R. Prabhu, NIC, Hyderabad, Dr. T.A. Halpin,Univ of Queensland, Australia, Dr. E. Falkenberg,Univ. of Nijmegan, the Netherlands and Dr. N.Parimala, BITS, Pilani.

InaugurationIn his inaugural address Prof. T. Viswanathan,

Director, INSDOC highlighted the present-dayscenario of information systems development andexpressed the hope that the conference wouldprovide an apt forum to discuss the problems andissues relating to database management tech-niques and data related technologies. Hesuggested that CISMOD-93 in the forthcomingyear should concentrate on multimedia databasesand multimedia networks. Dr. C. Holland, SorbonneUniv., Paris, delivered the keynote address on'Emerging Trends in Data Modelling Techniques'.She emphasised the need to; developingprocess-oriented data modelling techniques.

Dr A.K. Majumdar, Chairman ProgrammeCommittee giving introductory remarks.Seated at the dais are (I. to r.) Dr. (Ms) C.Holland, Prof. T.Viswanathan, Dr O.K.

Subramanian and Shri A.D. Kulkarni.

The technical programme of the conferenceconsisted of paper presentations, invited talks andpanel discussions. Prof. A.K. Majumdar, ITI,Kharagpur and Chairperson of the programmecommittee presented details of the conference.Presentation of papers was arranged in six tech-nical sessions devoted to the following areas—Object-Oriented Databases; Specialised Data-bases; Distributed Multimedia Databases;Specialisd Database; Distributed/ MultimediaDatabases; Data Modelling; OptimizationTechniques and Deductive Databases.

Panel Discussion

The Panel discussion on 'MultimediaDatabases' was chaired by Dr. O.K. Subramanian,Institute of Engineers, Karnataka State Centre; theother panel members were: Mr. Mastan, ManagerR & D Digital India Ltd. Bangalore; Dr. SridharMittal, Executive Vice-President, WIPRO Informa-tion Technology Ltd.; Dr. E. Falkerberg, Univ, ofNijmegan, the Netherlands, Dr S. Narsim Ali,University of Bahrain and Prof. T. Viswanathan,Director, INSDOC. This session evoked livelydiscussions from the panelists as well as from theaudience. Various aspects of multimediadatabases like their applications, hardware require-ment, cost-effectiveness, type of communicationtechnology required, etc. were the frontline areasof discussions. (Contd. on page 11)


APINMAP Network to beStrengthened:

Management BoardIdentifies Priority Areas

The Technical Standards Committee andManagement Board Meetings of Asian & PacificInformation Network on Medicinal S AromaticPlants (APINMAP} were held at Manila, during 10-15 February 1992. These meetings were arrangedby APINMAP Technical Network Centre, AIBA/SEARCA on behalf of UNESCO. Representativesfrom 10 member countries (Austria, China, India,Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan,Philippines and Sri Lanka) Observers from theinstitutions interested in APINMAP Network alsoparticipated in these meetings.

During 1 0 - 1 2 February, 1992, The TechnicalCommittee discussed the following agenda itemswith a view to formulating recommendations for theManagement Board; issues relating to APINMAPFactual database and Integrated database;information Services/ products of APINMAP;APINMAP operations and technical guidelines;promotion of APINMAP and linkages with relatednetworks/projects.

The Management Board took note of therecommendations of the Technical Committee andrecommended strenthening of the APINMAPNetwork while identifying the following priorityareas of action :

• Production of a prototype factual database(FOB), based on 15 selected medicinal plantscommon to the Network's member countries.The National Nodes will provide the botanicaldescription of the plants assigned to them andbiological and chemical aspects will beprovided by NAPRALERT database, USA.Revised data entry worksheets and draftguidelines for FOB were also approved.

• Putting the integrated bibliographic database ina marketable form, using the revised simplifiedformat.

• Preparing a revised version of the informationkit and promotional activities required toenable APINMAP to generate income andensure its gradual self-reliance.

(Contd. on page 11)

.APINMAP

8Participants Group: APINMAP Technical Standards Committee and Management

Board Meeting in Manila


Visual Communication forEducation and R & D —

INFOTEK Workshop

Or V.A. Kamath, President INFOTEK delivering the keynote address onMicrographics—an Overview. He Is flanked by Shrl R. Vengan (left) and

Shri R. Krishnamurthy, Coordinators of the WorkshopA six-day Workshop on Visual Communication

for Education and R & D was organised by theInstitution of Information Technology {INFOTEK),Madras at the Indira Gandhi Centre for AtomicResearch (IGCAR), Kalpakkam (Madras) from 11to 16 May 1992. The Workshop was co-sponsoredby -the Micrographic Congress (India), theDepartment of Scientific and Industrial Research(DSIR) under the NISSAT programme and theIGCAR.

Shri V. Shanmugam, Registrar, NT, Madrasinaugurated the Workshop and Dr. C.K. Mathews,Head, Radio-Chemistry Programme, IGCARpresided over the function.

Dr. V.A. Kamath, President INFOTEK andChairman, MCI in his wecome address stressedthe importance of visual medium and micro-graphics, a sophisticated technology as a meansto producing visuals (slides). He also tracedvarious technologies to aid education and R & Dcommunication especially processes such asthermography, diazo, lithography, microfilming,colour photography, etc.

Shri V. Shanmugam traced the history anddevelopment of various means of communication,the role gf printing, the revolutionery electronicmedia in the areas information storage anddissemination including visual communication. Hesuggested undertaking R & D in designing andpreparation of visuals and also projectiontechniques.

Dr. C.K. Mathews in his address pin-pointedthe importance of visuals and methods to enhancequality control aspects such as standards for visualmaking for scientific and technical presentations.

Shri John Vincent, Officer-in-charge, Libraryand Documentation Services, IGCAR spoke inbrief of the infrastructural facilities and repro-graphic equipment available in IGCAR Library foruse during the Workshop

Shri R. Vengan, Secretary, INFOTEK whileproposing a vote of thanks made a specialmention of the kind gesture of the co-sponsorsespecially DSIR for the liberal financial grant andthe IGCAR for the infrastructural facilities inmaking the Workshop successful.

(Contd. on page 15)

NISSAT NEWSLETTER N0. 3, 1992

CALIBNET ConvenesBrain-Storming on

RETROCON

The Calcutta Library Network (CALIBNET)having reached an advanced stage ofimplementation, restrospective conversion(RETROCON) of bibliographic records in itsparticipating institutions (Pis) has been underactive consideration. The vexing question is toidentity the most suitable method of RETROCONamongst the various options available.

Consequent to the recommendations of thethird meeting of CALIBNET CoordinationCommittee, a two-day brain storming session onthe theme of RETROCON was conducted byINSDOC Regional Centre, Calcutta recently.Specialists who have already delved into thepractical problems of RETROCON made presenta-tions at the session.

Specialists from DESIDOC, India InternationalCentre (IIC), DELNET, DST, INSDOC, (New Delhi)and INSDOC Regional Centre, Calcutta, along withCALIBNET Standardization Committee membersand the professionals from Phase-1 Pis ofCALIBNET participated. The session also availedof the opportunity to share the expertise of MsDeborah Abraham, ALA Library Fellow, presentlyundergoing a tenure at Indian Institute ofManagement.Calcutta. Shri A. C, Mitra, CALIBNETCoordinator, welcomed the distinguishedparticipants.

The two-day Session, chaired by Dr. S. S.Murthy, Director, DESIDOC, provided a forum foran interactive dialogue among 50 participants andrequisite briefing for the Pi's on the modalities ofinitiating RETROCON in their libraries.

Presentations were made by

Shri H K Kaul, Ms. Deborah Abraham, ShriChander Prakash, Shri R. K. Srivastav, ShriSubrata Datta and Dr A. Lahiri.

The Session confined itself to in-depthdiscussion on the following issues :

10 1. Methods and options

BIBLIOGRAPHICDECEMBER

Dr S.S. Murthy, Director, DESIDOC Presidingover the RETROCON Session as ShriR.K. Srlvastava (DESIDOC) Shares his

experiences in his presentation

— Short cuts— Facilities for conversion

Integrating More records generatedwithin the countryIntegrating records from externalsources

2. In-house and sub-contracting conversion :Data preparation, data entry

3. Sources/priority areas for conversion— whether entire catalogue is to be

converted or by priority areas— by type of materials— by subject areas— full versus active collection— by cut-off dates— usefulness of records to the network

participants4. Size of records, levels of description

— whether descriptors are to be included— whether recatalogutng is to be done

5. Manpower trainingAs a result of prolonged deliberations at this

brain-storming session, the following recommen-dations emerged :

1. Conversion ol bibliographic records entailsconversion of both current and retrospectivebibliographic data.

2. The entire catalogue need not be converted.Priority should be given to the followingsubject areas:


— type of materials (books, conferenceproceedings, report literature, standards,etc.)

— active collection (in circulation, currentacquisitions, patents and standards,when these get into circulation,frequently used materials, in-house,reference works, etc.)

— Individual libraries have the choice to setup their own priority areas.

3. Recataloguing would be essential. Thereare no short cuts to conversion. The datawould be as per AACR II, Level 2.Descriptions are essential in conversion.

5. If required, for data capture and data entry,libraries may use commercial agencies/vendors. NISSAT was urged to arrive atrate contracts for data capture/data entry,including constituting a panel of suchcontractors.

6. NISSAT might help procure MARC Data ontape or CD-ROM from overseas. However,this service for downloading MARC Datawill be provided to the participatinginstitutions at cost.

Detailed proceedings of the session are beingdrawn up. These will be widely circulated for thebenefit of other networks.

4. Immediately consolidate MARCgenerated within the country.

data

CISMOD-92(Contd. from page 7)

The conference concluded with a vote ofthanks by Prof. T Viswanathan, Director, INSDOC.The fourth International Conference on InformationSystems & Management of Data (CISMOD 93) willbe organised by INSDOC and Society for

Information Science. Dr. A.K. Majumdar, NT,Kharagpur and Dr. N. Sarda, IIT, Bombay are theChairpersons of the Programme Committee forCISMOD-93. Details of the conference will beannounced in due course.

APINMAP(Contd. from page 8)

The Board recommended the favourableconsideration by UNESCO of the membershipapplication of Turkey making it the 14th memberof APINMAP. Dr. G. Basa, the Philippines noderepresentative, was elected as APINMAP'sSecretary-General for two years.

Dr. G.P. Phondke, Director and Shri H.C. Jain,Head, Technical Information Services Division,Publications and Information Directorate (CSIR)New Delhi attended the above meetings for India.In his country report Dr. Phondke, gave a brief

account of the major activities undertaken by PIDrelating to APINMAP and Medicinal & AromaticPlants Information Services (MAPIS). Some of theother projects to be initiated at PID were alsohighlighted. These projects are: Development ofdatabases on researchers and on-going researchprojects, development of factual database onIndian medicinal & aromatic plants and provisionof SDI services. He suggested that UNESCOshould take up a project on the compilation of anAPINMAP thesaurus.

11


Recent Publications

1 2

Publishers are invited to send to the Editor forreview and noticing their new publications oninformation industry and technology, librarianship,documentation, archival science, micrography andreprography, information systems and services,science communication, printing and publishing(including electronic publishing, computerhardware and software, etc.)

An Indian Model for Database Services byDr Abhijit Lahiri, National Information Systemfor Science and Technology, Ministry ofScience & Technology, New Delhi. PP ix + 94.

This Report is the outcome of the work doneduring a Senior Scientist Bursary awarded to theauthor by the Commission of the EuropeanCommunities during 1990-91. But a look at itscontents and treatment of the issues involved willconvince the reader that it is much more than amodel for Indian Database services. The Reportsurveys the chain of developments in the S&Tinformation networks and services over the lastfew years and delineates the pattern along whichthe database industry in India could be promoted.The author takes a hard look at the existingsituation and with his .perceptive analysis andpainstaking efforts has produced a model whichaddresses the key issues to provide a viable andpragmatic approach to the development ofindigenous databases not only in the area ol S&Tinformation but also business and financialinformation. The plan takes into account the need(or interaction with international ventures and forfacilitating access to their databases by Indianusers.

A progressive decline in the dominant role of!he government as the promoter and financier ofinformation activities is advocated by the author. Itis also envisaged that commercial, public andprivate enterprises and 'not-for-profit1 organizations^hould enter the area in a big way. To what extent.nose agencies respond to the challenge remains:o be seen.

in effect the concept advanced is 'limited'.entralization with planned decentralization..' Theunsure of success in raising the level of

part ic ipat ion would indicate the future of•n (or mat ion industry in India.

The Report makes absorbing and interestingreading with all the wealth of first hand informationit provides on the various information networks,existing as well as those in the process ofdevelopment.

Based on the understanding of the potential, aset of strategies for market development ispresented. An assessment of various deliveryoptions is made in the Indian context. Other keyissues dealt with are market development, growthin the use of CD-ROM technology and promotingthe use of stand-alone products on magneticmedia in place of hard copies.

The Report should prove a most valuable andindispensable guide to library and informationprofessionals in the country.

— RDT

Trade and Technology Directory of India 1991edited by V. Viihal Babu. Economy & Trade,New Delhi, 2 Vol. Rs. 1000, pp 963 + 724, 1991.

The idea of compiling a business directory ofthis type was mooted by the Chinese Govt. in theinterest of promoting economic and trade relationsbetween the two countries. The Union Ministries ofCommerce, External Affairs, Department ofScientific & Industrial Research discussedthe proposal and felt the need for bringing outa comprehensive publication to meet therequirements of foreign governments, S&Torganisations, technical and financial collaborators,financial institutions, trade corporations, NRIs,universities, etc. This Directory, therefore,presents the sectoral objectives, performance andpotential of India lor catering to varied interests.

Volume 1 is divided into three parts devotedto liberalising economy, policy statements and keystatistics respectively. Volume 2 has two partswhich cover organisational profiles and newinitiatives. The Directory gives an overview of thepost independence developments and describesIndia's agricultural achievements and theremarkable progress made in other fields such asnuclear science, space research, defenceresearch, biotechnology, materials, electronics,computers, tele-communication, informatics, non-conventional sources of energy, meteorology,

NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 3. 1992

ocean development. Besides this, the GreenRevolution in agriculture, the White Revolution inmilk, Blue Revolution in fish and Yellow Revolutionin oilseeds are discussed .

Visualising the specific requirements of itspotential users, the Directory contains, policystatements, legislative enactments, proceduralguidelines, institutional structures, promotionalagencies which will also be useful to foreigngovernments and international organisations. Itgives details of the top private companies, publicsector enterprises, banking and financialinstitutions, chambers of commerce and industry,registered trade/export houses, export processingzones, 100 per cent export oriented units, nationallaboratories, research institutes and centres ofexcellence, professional societies, consulting firms,construction and leasing companies which provideto their counterparts in foreign countries thenecessary information on technical collaboration atGovt. Institutional or corporate levels.

The chapter on science & technology giveshistorical overview from the ancient to the presenttimes i.e., the Eighth Plan. It covers the policiesfor application ol science & technology, S&Tinfrastructure (various departments and agenciesunder Ministry of Science & Technologynumbering about 150), R&D programmes, nationalfacilities, the technology related programmes,socio-economic development programmes,international S&T programmes, etc.

The section on DSIR gives activities of CSIR,schemes in specific areas like Promotion ofIndustrial Research, National Register of ForeignCollaborations, Support for Industrial R&DProjects, Transfer and Trading in Technology,Technology Absorption & Adaptation Schemes,Technology Promotion Board, etc. It also givesinformation, though briefly, on NISSAT. There aresimilar sections devoted to other Departments likeBiotechnology, Atomic Energy, Space Research,Electronics and Ocean Development.

In India over 35 per cent of the population stilllives below the poverty line. A special section isdevoted to the Application of S&T for PovertyAlleviation & Rural Development. Volume 2 givesa brief description of institutions andestablishments of public and private enterprisesincluding CSIR, select in house centres, regionallicensing authorities, export promotionorganisations, registered trading houses, majorexporters of engineering goods, select consultancy

organisations, overseas construction companies,India's joint ventures abroad, and information on188 Indian universities and NTs, etc.

The Directory presents a mine of information,arranged in helpful sequence. The problem,however, arises in its retrieval from the 1700pages of the text comprising the two volumes. Theindex which is supposed to perform this function isnot user-friendly. In the absence of any guidelines,it gives the location by name of the chapter/section followed by page number withoutreference to the volume number which is essentialas the pagination is not continuous and to reachthat chapter/section one has to look into contentspage of both the volumes. A simple method couldhave been to give the volume number followed byfullstop and page number e.g., NationalInformatics Centre 2.135 instead of 'Profile 315!The index has no entry for NISSAT either underacronym or its expanded form. Since compilationof the Directory was started in mid 1989, the usermay like to check up and verify information,especially those parts which are prone to rapidchange.

The author has put in enormous effort incollecting and processing the material andpresented it in a convenient form to serve itsobjectives. The publication has excellent printingand get up and is reasonably priced.

The Directory will serve as an indispensabletool for libraries and information centres inanswering queries on these subjects. Managersand top executives will find it a ready referenceguide and should better keep it within handyreach. It would also receive encouraging responsefrom the foreign countries which are engaged in orare looking for collaboration with India in trade andtechnology ventures.

— V.K. Rangra

Directory ol Foreign Collaborations in MachineTool and Allied Equipment CMTI, Bangalore.Rs. 100, 1992.

The machine tool industry in the country isnow widening its scope with the recentliberalisation programme. There has been amarked increase in the number of foreign 13collaborators entering into collaboration with Indianmachine tool manufacturers in hi-tech areas suchas Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS), CMCMachines, Electrical Discharge Machines, NCsystems for machine tools, etc.


In order to provide a ready reference guide tosuch collaborations, CMTI has brought out adirectory of foreign collaborations in machine toolsand allied equipment with the sponsorship ofDepartment of Scientific and Industrial Research(DSIR) under NISSAT scheme. The directory is intwo parts—the products section and theaddresses section. About 1200 collaborationshave been listed under nearly 500 classifiedproduct/product headings. 560 Indian firms and694 foreign firms have been listed. Names andaddresses of firms are given in the addressessection wherever available. The Indian companiesand the foreign firms have been listed separatelyin the addresses section. It is hoped the directorywill be useful in choosing/selecting the rightproducts for future collaborations and in planningthe priority of projects for in house R&D.

Guide for Machine Tools and AlliedEquipment, Central Machine Tool Institute.Bangalore, pp 312, Rs. 300, 1992.

CMTI has published a revised and enlargedBuyers' Guide for Machine Tools and AlliedEquipment 1991 . It is a comprehensive andexhaustive trade directory of indigenousmanufacturers/suppliers of machine tools andallied equipment covering :

— Machine tools, their accessories andelements (Metal cutting, metal forming andphysico-chemical process, etc.)

— Welding, brazing, soldering and gascutting equipment

— Cutting tools, press tools and hand tools— Production aids and tooling— Lubricants and cutting fluids— Measurement and testing equipment and

components— Electrical and electronic equipment and

components— Heat treatment and surface treatment

equipment— Portable power tools— Plastic processing machines— Foundry moulding machines.

14 Many a time it is easy to locate a manufacturerof an equipment abroad than within the country.This is mainly due to nonavailability of specialiseddirectories.

NICMAP has brought out this revised editionof the publication due to persistent demand fromthe industry. The Guide provides an alphabeticallist of products for easy reference. Size-wiseclassification has been given, wherever possible.Nearly 2150 products have been listed coveringabout 4200 manufacturers and their agents.

The Guide would assist the prospective buyerin locating manufacturers and their agents ofmachine tools and allied equipment in India.

Rayon Industry in India by Dr. B.H.Challshazar. NICTAS, ATIRA, Ahmedabad ppvlil + 82, 1992.

This state-of-the-art report dealing with thedevelopment of viscose rayon industry in India hasjust been published by National Information Centrefor Textile and Allied Subjects (NICTAS) andATIRA, Ahmedabad.

The report describes the history of the rayonindustry in the world as a whole, usages andapplications of rayon, problems faced by theindustry in India, present states and future trends.Some selective R&D work done on cellulosicfibres and its present status has been discussed.

In the Preface to the report, the author Dr.B.H. Chalishazar former M.D. of National RayonCorporation, notes that synthetic fibres havecertain inherent disadvantages which make thenunsuitable to replace totally the cellulosic fibres.As such cellulosic fibres and filaments have afuture and they will survive the fierce competitionoffered by synthetic fibres in the coming years.

The Reports runs into 10 chapters includingUiose on properties of finished products, their usesin the textile and industrial sectors and possiblenew applications; new world developments inviscose rayon; export of viscose rayon andproblems faced; R&D in the viscose rayon industryin India; and problems affecting the Indianindustry.

The Report concludes that given proper fiscalincentives, the viscose filament and staple fibreindustry can export considerable quantities. At thesame time it is important that the industry mustmodernise and increase productivity to enable it tosurvive and compete in the international market inthe future.

— RDT


CECIMO—STAtlscal Overview of theMachine Tool Industry within the CECIMOCountries 1985-1990. Co mite European DeCooperation Des Industries De La Machlne-Outil, 1991. Secretariat General, Brussels.

Recent developments in the European MachineTool Sector are reviewed in this, very informativepublication brought out by the EuropeanCommittee for Cooperation in the Machine ToolIndustries. The Committee represents machinetool associations of 12 countries in Europerepresenting some 1500 manufacturers accountingfor about >40 per cent of world output.

indo-EC Cooperation in the machine toolsector under the Industrial CooperationProgramme has made much headway in recentyears. At the IMTEX-92 last March, a series ofround table discussions and negotiations wereheld between the European manufacturers andimporters associations and the Indian MachineTool Manufacturers Association (IUTA).

The aim was to promote more fruitful

collaboration between the European and Indianmachine tool manufacturers.

The above publication gives comprehensivetrade and consumption data for machine tools.The Indian market accounts for $345 million worthof mechine tools annually and thus offers growingpossiblities for collaboration in the field. CECIMOis keen on exploring this potential.

At present, however, the European industry isin the grip of a worldwide recession and its firstpriority naturally is to consolidate the homemarket. During its IMTEX visit last March, themission prepared the ground for collaboration injoint ventures with Indian manufacturers especiallyin the transfer of know-how in attaining qualitystandards corresponding to 1SO 9000 series whichwould mean extra assurance to the end users otthe products turned out in conformity with thesestandards. The CECIMO delegation also foundconsiderable scope for ventures in the fields ofautomotive industry, aircraft, fuel injectionequipment, transport and agriculture sectors.

— RDT

INFOTEK(Contd. from page 9)

The first technical session commenced withlectures by R. Krishnamurthy on "Standards forVisual—A study and a lecture on Lithographyand Thermography. Dr. V.A. Kamath gave anelaborate talk on "Micrographics: An overview"while emphasising the fastest technology-microfilming as a means of visual communication.

Shri P. Sivaprakasam dealt with the toningprocess while Shri S. Janardhan talked aboutDiazo process.

Other topics dealt with were "Suitable colourcombinations and colour photography", Planningand Designing for Making Visuals and andSalient features of DTP for input making

followed by practical demonstration of DTPprocess.

There was also special lecture series called"Ideal Lectures" to show how effective the visualsare during these lectures.

The Valedictory function was presided overby Shri Shankar Singh, Chairman, LibraryCommittee and Head. Reader Physics Division,IGCAR. Shri Singh spoke in appreciative termson the efforts of the organizers in arranging thisWorkshop on a subject of great importanceespecially for R & D. He stressed the need forgreater awareness of the relations of the visualmaking as well as projection systems.

15


News and Events

16

DOOT - VmatllA Etetronlc Mall Software

Doof. a computer sottwara package developed by NCSTand just released, makes it possible to send and receive elec-tronic mail in Devanagari and/or English. One can also includepictures. Door provides a simple-to-use and intuitive graphicaluser interface.

Doof supports user Interaction through a mouse, orkeyboard or a combination of these two. To create and edit amassage, Door provides a visual editor In a separate windowon the display screen. To make it easy to compose mail,Doof displays the keyboard mapping for Devanagari script Ina subwindow of the edit window. The editing session has twomodes: Roman and Devanagari. A user can type Devanagaritext from the keyboard after setting the edit mode to Deva-nagari. Alternatively, the user can enter text by using themouse and clicking over the required keytops on the displayedkeyboard.

Apart from creating and receiving mail messages, Dootoffers many other facilities for handling mall. It organises allIncoming mail into different folders. Headers of all theIncoming mail are displayed in a window of the displayscreen. A single mouse click on the message header enablesthe user to select the mail from the folder. Doof automaticallyproduces (he forward and the reply composition format,considerably reducing the text entry burden on tie user.

Doot has been developed on top of the X windowsystem. X Is a device independent and network transparentwindow system that Is widely available in the public domain.Doof can be easily ported on to any 'Unix based system.

Doot Is also able to handle pictures along with multilin-gual text. It has been designed in such a way that it does notbind any mail to its own representation scheme. Any mail inEnglish text sent using Doot can be received and viewedusing any compatible electronic mall system. NCST plans toextend Door to follow the standards of the MIME (Multipur-pose Internet Mail Extension) as well as X.400, so thatelectronic mall sent using Door will be automatically compat-ible with other electronic mail software.

//f-KLAS

The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur Library Auto-mation System (lit-KLAS) is a comprehensive set of programsto automate the various functions of a large academic library.The package supports the following functions: a) acquisition b)technical processing c) serials control d} circulation e) userservices f) current awarencess service g) retrospective conver-sion of catalogues.

The user services are available through terminals situatedin the library and over the compus-wlde local area network.

Components O( lit-KLAS:

1. Acquisition : indenting/requesting; order processing -

including cancelatton, recorder Ing etc.; follow up opera-tions; advance payment; book arrival; management andquery functions; modify and edit utility; backup.

Z. Technical processing: preparation of catalogue entry;catalogue card printing (including additional cards);generation of lists of additions etc.

3. Serials processing: journal subscription (new andrenewals) including invoice processing, accounting etc.;follow-up; receipt of individual Issues, query, binding,back up. The package can handle merged titles, splittitles etc.

4. Circulation control: issue return and reissue of librarymaterials; overdue charges and reminders; reservationof items; registration and deregistration of users. Thesystem implements constraints like items being issuablefor different categories of users for different periods oftime; reservation checking etc.

5. User services:

(a) On-line catalogue: this will allow ordinary as wellas complex Boolean queries on the fieldscommonly found in library card catalogues. Sometypical fields are: author(s), title, publisher, key-words.

(b) List of Journals subscribed(c) Journal Holdings(d) New Arrivals

(e) Circulation Information: status of issues of a user,reservations, fines etc.

(f) Courses being offered in the current semesterand their details

(g) Call for papers(h) New Journals

6. Current Awareness Service: match user profiles againstabstracts and new publications data to extract entries ofinterest to the user.

7. Retrospective conversion: give 1SBN/LC information ordetails about title and author detailed catalogue entrieswill be extracted and given to the user on media of hischoice.

The project has received financial support from IITKanpur and from the E & R Network project of the Dept. ofElectronics, Govt. of India.

UNDP Lays Groundwork for SON

UNDP recently convened a workshop in New York tobetter understand the environmental information needs ofdeveloping countries and how these needs can be servedthrough a SustainaWe Development Network (SON). UNDP is


laying the groundwork for the SON, which is a "network ofnational networks" tor sharing information for and aboutsustain able development.

The SDN will link sources and users of information onsustain able development in government, research, non-govern-mental, grassroots and entrepreneurial organizations on aglobal scale. It will assist countries in gaining access toinformation and sound technologies to enable them to care fortheir environment while improving economic growth for presentand future generations.

The SDN workshop brought together 19 participants fromdeveloping countries, international organizations and NGOs, aswell as technical specialists. The group offered policy adviceto UNDP on setting up the pilot phase of the SDK. To date,21 requests and proposals to participate in the pilot projecthave been submitted.

New Computer Package for Agriculture Information

Agricultural researchers worldwide can now have instantaccess to 190,000 pages of essential research materialwithout leaving their computers. The Consultative Group onInternational Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is creating one ofthe world's largest full-text libraries on CD-ROM.

CGIAR is supported by UNDP, the World Bank and otherinternational organizations. It promotes agricultural researchcentres around the wo rid. These centres develop new ways toincrease sustainabte food production and improve thenutritional and economic well-being of low-income people.

The computer package, called CIARL BRS, consists of aset of 17 CD-ROM discs which provide a comprehensivelibrary of text, graphics, maps and colour images. Theyinclude the following agricultural research subjects: developingnew technologies to increase farm productivity; protectingnatural resources; helping formulate food and agriculturepolices; strengthening national agricultural research systems;conserving germ plasm; and building links between institutions.

CIARL BRS requires an IBM-compatible microcomputerText can be printed on any standard PC printer. The price is$ 1,950. The price code is T19, To order (he CIARL BRScollection: The World Bank, Office of the Publisher, 1818 HStreet, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, LJSA.

Seminar on Authorware

A Seminar was organized at UNESCO Headquarters,from 18 to 22 May 1992, for teachers involved in theCooperative Network for the Teaching of ComputerizedInformation Retrieval.

The Network aims at improving the qualifications of theteachers, harmonizing the programmes, improving the localequipment and elaborating and developing specific teachingtools such as programmed courses, manuals, video pro-grammes, software evaluation, etc. in the filed of teachingcomputerized information retrieval.

Among the Network's planned activities is the preparationof tutorials on computerized information retrieval. For thedevelopment of these tutorials, network members have agreedto use an author language, i.e. a software which will cover thedetailed programming of the tutorial. This author language will

enable the teachers to concentrate on teaching aspects of thedesign and development of the course.

INASP: Availability of ScientificPublication*.

The newly established International Network for theAvailability of Scientific Publications results from effortsmade during the last three years by the International Councillor Scientific Unions (ICSU) in co-operation with UNESCO andother organizations such as the Third World Academy ofScience (TV/AS) and the American Association for theAdvancement of Science.

The general objective of INASP is to create an effectivelyfunctioning co-operative network of donors and partners andto expand programmes that distribute scientific books andjournals to institutions, mainly in the developing world andthen in Central and Eastern Europe.

INASP will function as a "Clearing House* to facilitateand encourage the distribution and exchange of scientificliterature. It will be open to ICSU members, professionalbodies and learned societies, publishers, donor organizations,Third World and Central and Eastern Europe institutions. Inorder to ensure that the network is responsive to users in theThird World, network correspondents will be identified fromrecipient countries.

The network activities will consist in:

• creating databases to match and advise donors and re-cipients. Initially, two referral databases are beingstarted;

• promoting greater availability of scientific publications bypublishing a promotional brochure and a regular news-letter;

• preparing a handbook on donated scientific literature;

• compiling guidelines to help individuals and organiza-tions identify appropriate donated materials andrecipients;

• creating a Special Collections Fund for the distributionof surplus or duplicate material emanating from donors;

• encouraging the establishment of new journal donationsprogrammes and provide advisory services.

An interim Secretariat is now hosted by the AfricanInstitute in London. Thie Secretariat has already published adirectory of major book donations programmes and isestablishing an E-mail network for book donors and recipients.

ISSN Compact - 1SDS Raglator on CD-ROM

Since March 1992 the ISDS Register including the Listof Serial Title Word Abbreviations is available on CD-ROM.

The authoritative world catalogue for serial identificationcontains more than 6000,000 entries from 193 countries in144 languages. The ISDS database at the InternationalCentre lor ISDS in Paris registers more than 40,000 newentries and about 60,000 updates per year.

Published -quarterly, ISSN Compact opens totally new 17


perspectives tor accessing the data of the ISDS Register.Contrary to the edition on microfiches, which is only areference tool where the only keys for consultation are thetitle and (he ISSN, ISSN Compact allows access to theRegister by means of almost a!! the possible criteria,combined or not. The selected records can be downloadedInto the user's system, according to different formats, inparticular the ISDS exchange format (in conformity with ISO2709) and subsequently enriched.

The CD-ROM software is an adaptation of the systemdesigned by On-line Computer Systems (United States} for dif-ferent national bibliographies.

List of Serial Title World AbbreviationsThis second edition of the List cumulates the edition

published in 1985 and the five annual supplements publishedas from this date. Thus this new edition gives access in asingle alphabetical list to 42,000 words and their abbreviationsestablished by the ISDS network lor the registration ofabbreviated titles

In order to facilitate the search of abbreviations, severalimprovements have been introduced: a lengthy introduction,coding of the words languages and a procedure for the regis-tration of new words and abbreviations. The number of abbre-viations established by ISDS increases regularly and hencethe List, since the ISDS Register has a growth of about40,000 titles each year. Consequently this new edition of theList seeks to be an instrument and a method to contain theinflation of words to be abbreviated and is in a way itself anabbreviated List which nevertheless allows the user toconstruct all the possible abbreviated words.

This new edition of the List of Serial Title WordAbbreviations is the complete list of all the words and abbre-viations registered for more than twenty years in (he abbrevi-ated titles of serials, but is also an abbreviating guide for newwords and abbreviations.

ISSN Compact including the List (ISSN 1018-4783:7500FF lax free) is distributed by:

Chadwyck-Healy France S.A.3, rue de Marivaux, 75002 Paris

Coming Soon - the FaII-Safe LAN

Local Area Networks (LANs), which connect desktopcomputers so that users can share information electronically,have spread like wildfire. However, what begins as a simplenetwork for a tew people often spreads across an entreorganization, as more and more PCs are attached.

This rapid, unplanned growth has begun to focusattention on the problems that arise when a network fails, TwoUS companies are currently working to develop a I ail-sale PCnetwork.

The first step in this collaboration between network soft-ware manufactures Novell Inc. and Stratus Computer Inc.,who make what are described as 'fail-safe* minicomputers,will be the development of a version of Novell's Net Waresoftware tor the Stratus minicomputer. Initial release ot thepackage is set for end of 1992.

A crucial next step will be to translate the fault-tolerant•\ Q features of the mini to "bullet-proof" the Novell software. The

two companies plan to collaborate on software that would

isolate network failures. —Business week, December, 1991.

Industry and Environment :a Guide to Source* of Information

The most pervasive issue in industrial decision-makingand technology today is the environment. LJNIDO (UnitedNations Industrial Development Organization} and the WorldFederation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) have joinedforces to create a comprehensive guide to sources of informa-tion on environment and industry.

Clearly structured, and indexed according to a wide spec-trum of industrial sectors, subsectors and countries, the guidedeals with topics including: industrial pollution issues; environ-ment-related research and development; equipment suppliers;technical services, consulting companies and institutions.

Data sections of 334-page guide are in English only, butthe introduction, which gives advice on analyzing problems,structuring queries and relating them to appropriate informationsources and services, is in English, French, German andSpanish. The data sections have a cumulative index of mainsubject descriptors, and institutional sections are sorted bycountry.

Industry and environment: a guide to sources ofinformation (ISBN 3-924754-17-9) is available only from theco-publisher, Verlag Dr. Grub Nachf., Olberweg a, D-7801Bollschweil, Germany. The price is DM 1 1 0 . -UNIDOnewsletter. No. 286.

HPF Information Centre Commissions Online Facility

As part of the modernisation programme, the InformationCentre at Hindustan Photo Films Mfg. Co. Ltd., Ootacamund,Tamil Nadu, has recently started a Microcomputer basedOnline searching facility. The Centre has procured a HCLsystem (PC-AT 386) with 100 MB-Hard disk and all modernfeatures. To begin with, it is accessing databases on DIALOGsystem and has plans to obtain passwords with ORBIT andDATA STAR systems, subsequently.

The Centre has drawn up a comprehensive plan,involving library automation, database creation, CD-ROMS andother related activities to be implemented in a phased manner.

NICMAP Service*

NICMAP is the Sectoral Information Centre set up inCMTI under NISSAT Plan of the Dept. of Scientific and Indus-trial Research to cater to the information needs of engineeringindustries. It has a well equipped library with a wide collectionof documents. Comprehensive bibliographical databases ofarticles, books and Indian patents on various aspects relatedto metal cutting, metal forming, numerical control etc., havebeen developed. Non-bibliographical databases onmanufacturers and suppliers of metalworking equipment,statistical data on imports, exports, production etc. have alsobeen compiled. Online computer search and retrieval facilityusing VAX/11-785 computer system is available. A speciallycompiled Thesaurus is used for controlling the terminology forindexing and retrieval of information.

The Centra provides SDI, translation and reprographicservices. Consultancy lor setting up specialised informationcentres can also be provided. Special publications of interestto industries including monthly periodicals like 'Metalworking


Abstracts' & 'Metalworking Bulletin' are being published.

In order to assure faster and more efficient service to theusers and to simplify the payment procedures and reducepaper work, NICMAP has Introduced annual MembershipScheme which Is open to metalworklng industries, academicinstitutions, R & D establishments, libraries & other public andprivate organisations.

Membership Privileges — Members are entitled for themonthly publications, 'Metalworking Abstracts' - an abstractingperiodical covering 300 articles per issue and 'MetalworklngBulletin' - a newsletter giving latest developments in machinetools and allied areas. A discount of 10% Is allowed onscheduled rales of photo-copies, translation and other publica-tions of CMTI. Facility is provided to consult NICMAP library.

Members are entitled for the following privileges:

- 1000 Bibliographic references/Addresses ot Manufactur-ers/ Addresses of suppliers.

- Privilege coupons for 150 pages ot photocopies

For further details, contact: NICMAP Central MachineTool Institute, Tumkur Road, Bangalore • 560 022.

SDI Service at NICMAP

NICMAP has introduced SDI service under its fmembership scheme. Under the SDI service the member willregister his name as SDI user and will send his subjectinterest (profile) to NICMAP. NICMAP will store this subjectprofile In the computer and once every two months search willbe made of the newly added references and printouts ofbibliographical references are sent out to the members. Thus,the SDI users regularly get the latest references on thesubject of their interest during first week of every alternatemonth.

The SDI service is available to all NICMAP members.The number by references sent to members under SDI will bedebited to their accounts.

The main advantage of SDI service is that the user canindicate his subject interest once and the list of references onthis subject will be sent to the user routinely every twomonths, thus keeping the user abreast of the latest literaturein the field. The documents referred to In these lists areavailable in NICMAP library and users can order for xeroxcopies of the documents of their interest.

An SDI user can change his subject profile, register morethan one profile or cancel his profile by writing to NICMAP.

It is hoped that NICMAP members will make use of thisservice and keep them selves'abreast of the latest technology.

For further details contact NICMAP Central Machine Too!Institute, Tumkur Road, Bangalore - 560 002.

Catalogue Management Software Package lor Libraries

A low-cost, user-friendly, menu-driven catalogue manage-ment software for small libraries under MS-DOS environmenthas been developed by INSDOC, New Delhi. Its main features

- Data input and modification

- Database activation, automatic indexing, etc.

- Search & retrieval of two databases namely, Recent Ad-ditions & Complete Catalogue

- Transfer of records for Recent Additions to CompleteCatalogue

- Help for display ofCatalogue cardMain subject headings

The software can hadle upto 50,000 records. Price Rs. 5800

For further details, contact :Marketing and Customer Service Division, INSDOC.New Delhi - 110067

Barcodlng In Library

The Central library of IIT, Bombay has recently Intro-duced barcode technology, which indentifies the readers andbook by a flash of a laser beam that runs through a barcodeattached to the reader's ticket or the book. The system suitsthose libraries where the transactions are large in number. Itis not cost effective in small libraries unless stocks are to beverified frequently.

Dr. Raheja Library, CAZRI, Jodhpur

Prof. V. L. Chopra, Director General 8 Secretary, DARE,Govt. of India, inaugurated the New Library Building of theCentral Arid Zone Research Institute (ICAR), Jodhpur on 27July, 1992. This double storey Library Building of CAZRI hasbeen named as Dr. Raheja Library In honour of its firstDirector.

Prof. V.L. Chopra in his short speech said that Librariesare no more repository centres. They must now be consideredas information transfer agencies. No research work can becarried out without the effective use of the libraries.He furtherdesired that this new library building equipped with all modernfacilities and named after Its first Director P.C. Raheja, willprove a boon for scientific and technical community of CAZRIIn particular and other scientists of India in general.

This double storey library building has been constructedover about 1000 sq. Metres at a cost of Rs. 39 lakhs. Thelibrary has 16000 books and 50,000 back volumes on itsshelves. Besides this the library is presently subscribing 110Indian and 100 foreign Journals. It has also got a goodnumber of gray literature and reprints. As a part of modernisa-tion the Ilibrary has been equipped with computer (PC/AT 386)alongwith laser printer, microfilm reader and photo copyingmachines. The linrary will soon be using CDS/ISIS packagefor its functional operations.

In addition to Its routine services, the library is presentlyrendering Current Awareness Services 'Indexing, Bibliographi-cal and Documentation services', Inter-Library Loan Services,Newspaper Clipping services, etc.

This Institute library has also participated in a joint projectsponsored by INSDOC (Indian National Scientific Documenta-tion Centre). Delhi In compiling a 'Union Catalogue ofScientific Periodicals in India'. The library is also Sendinginformation to Internationa! Network known as AGRIS throughARIC.

19


As a significant achievement of Hie institute library, theDepartment of Environment has approved establishment ofENVIS (Environmental Information System) centre on 'Deserti-fication and Soil Conservation' at the Institute during Vltl plan.The DOE is also providing a financial assistance for thiscentre which has started functioning at this campus.

FlomBier*/Valve* Abstracts

The Fluid Control Reserach Institute (FCRI), Kerala hasstarted the publication ot an abstracts journal under the abovetitle, using CDS/ISIS, Ver. 2, 3 software package. The jourrfelis published thrice a year at present.

FCRI, a central Govt. establishment, set up as a UNDP -assisted project is the first of its kind In SE Asia. It providesthe basic framework for technological development for the flowproducts industry. The Institute has been accredited as anational certifying authority for flow meters and control valves.

The August 1992 issue of the Abstracts contains 56abstracts on flowmeters of various types, values, actuatorsand positioners, other flow control elements and primary in-struments.

For copies of the publication, write to the librarian, FluidControl Research Institute, Kanjikode West 678623, Palghat,Kerala.

NIC Patent Information Service: Rate* Revised

With effect from October 1992 the National InformationCentre (NIC) has revised its service charges for providingPatent Information. The new rates are as follows :

(A) Bibliographic Information Service:Rs. 2 per reference/citation found and sent for thesearch done by NIC staff.

(B) Selective Dissemination Service:NIC also provides dissemination of information.

:'**•

(C) Full text Specification Service:The service charges for providing hard copy print ofthe patents are as follows:

S.No.

1 .2.3.4.5.6.7.

INFOTEX' 93

Pages-

001 to 005006 to 020021 to 040041 to 100101 to 200201 to 400More than 400 pages

Rs.

200/-300/-400/-800/-1200/-2000/-150 + Rs. 5 perpage printed

An International Conference and Exhibit on DatabaseProduction and Distribution : Resources, Technology and Man-agement is proposed to be held in Bangalore during 28 Nov. -1 Dec. 1993. The Conference is being promoted by Societyfor Information Science, New Delhi and organized by Infor-

matics (India) Pvt. Ltd. Bangalore. Dr. N. Serhagiri, DirectorGeneral, National Informatics Centre, New Delhi has beendesignated as the Chairman for the Conference, which willfocus on all issues relating to resources, technology andmanagement employed in database production andditri button.

Papers are invited in the following areas :

• Intellectual base for database production.

• Production technology for database industry

• Full text databases

• Retrieval engines

• Online—emerging trends and challenges

• CD - ROM and multimedia

• Impact of new media and new technologies on publish-ing and global dissemination/distribution of informationresources.

• Marketing opportunities in the developing world.

All papers will be published after being refareed wellbefore the Conference. Awards have been instituted for threebest papers accepted.

Far further information contact:

INFOTEX'93C/o Informatics (India) Pvt. Ltd. P O Box360, 87 II Floor, 1 1 t h Cross Mateswaram, Bangalore 560 003.India.

AGUS : New Office Bearers

The following office bearers have been elected by theAssociation of Govt, Librarians and Information Specialists for1992 and 1993 : President, Dr. Pandey S.K.Sharma (IIPA) ;Vlce-Preeldents, Shri K.P. Rajoura (CSI) and Dr. Rajeev Vij,Secretary, Shri Balbir Slngh (DPI), Jt. Sectrarles, ShriN.K.Bar and Shri Ram Lok Sharma (Planning Commision),Treasurer Shri Mohan Lal. The Secretariat of AGLIS is nowhoused in Delhi Public Library, S.P.Mukerjee Marg, Delhi110006.

Medical Library Association of India

The Association has elected the following office bearersfor the biannual term 1992-94 : President, Shri S.J.Kulkarni(Bombay), Vice-President*, Shri S.N.Agarwal (Lucknow), ShriP.L.Dhongade (Goa), Secretary, Dr. R.P.Kumar (New Delhi),Jt. Secretary, Shri M.K.Varma (Bhopal), Treasurer, ShriHariendera Singh (New Delhi).

Three Sectoral Information Centre Scientists Retire

Three scientists heading NISSAT's Sectoral InformationCentres at NCL, Pune.CDRI, Lucknow, and NAL, Bangalorerecently retired from service on superammunition. Whilerecording our deep appreciation of their valuable services, wewish them all good luck, health and happiness in their well-earned retirement. The scientists are :

20


1. R.S. Singh, ArMCoodlnator NICHEM,NCUPun* retired last Julyafter 23 years service atNCL. He developed and or-ganized the NationalInformation Centre onChemistry and ChemicalTechnology as well as theNational Access Centre forInternational Databases(NACiO). Shri Singhconducted several trainingprogrammes on onlinesearching. In 1992 hehosted the XI AnnualConvention/Conference of tfia Society for Information Science,India. He acted as a Coordinator alongwitti Dr. S.G.Mahajan,Head Dept. ot Library and Information Science, PoonaUniversity to prepare a feasibility report on the Networking ofLibraries of Pune Metropolitan Area — PUNENET. He alsoassisted the Dept. of Library and Information Science of theUniversity of Poona in conducting courses on computerizationof libaraty activities using the CDS/1513 package.

Shri Singh has contributed over 30 papers to variousjournals and Conference Proceedings. He participated inseveral seminars and conferences in foreign countries.

Dr. S.S.ryw Dy.Director and H«ad,Library S*rvlcaa Dlvl»lontnd National InformationCentra for Drug* andPhermacMJtlcalt(NIOCAP) retired last Mayafter 15 years ofmeritorious service (19years with CDRI).Established in 1977 atCDRI, NIDCAP has overthe years grown into animportant Centre in thissectoral area. It has been recognized by WHO as its collabo-rating Centre on Drug Information for South East AsianCountries, The Dept. of Biotechnology has located its userCentre here. Besides, NIDCAP is also functioning as NationalMarine Data Centre of the Dept. of Ocean Development(DOD), Govt. of India.

A Pharmacy graduate, Dr. lyer has had varied expereineein research and industry. His work on genaties of VibrioCholera* earned him his doctoral degree from BHLJ. He hasto his credit a large number of research papers published inIndian as well as foreign Journals.

At NIDCAP, Dr. lyefs work has brought aboutwidespread awareness of the value of technical informationamong Pharmacy professionals. A large segment of individu-als, academics and industry executives have benefited fromNICOAP services and products. Recently the Centre has beenidentified as one of nodes (or - distributed MEDLARSdatabase*. Another noteworthy achievement has been thecreation of Lucknow Special-Libraries Consortium (LUSLIC)which brings together 16 Lucknow Special Libraries forcollaboration and coodination in services and products.

B. Gurudadwajan whoretired last Marchassumed responsibility asHead, Information Centrefor Aeronautics (!CA) in1987 after varied workingexperience in CGCRI,Calcutta. IIP. Dehradun inlibrary and documentationactivities. His earlier workin ICA w.as concerned withESA - NAL online accessto the ESA/IRS databasesat Frascati, near Rome,ICA provided informationsearch services underTELESEARCH-1 to about40 establishments in India, accessed a number of databases,conducted nearly 520 paid searches and over 300 demonstra-tion searches for R&D units. Subsequently (1988-92), ShriGu'rudawajan held charge of the online link with DIALOGInformation Services and TELESEARCH-II.Shri Gurudadwagan also coordinated five sponsored projectsDSIR/NISSAT and ARDB for the establishment of CD-ROMservices, strengthening of document collections, creation ofaerospace database, and establishment of DTP facilities.

NICMAP Principal Coordinator Appointed Director CMTI

Shri B.G.Kemahettl, Joint Director and Principal Coordi-nator of National Information Centre for Machine Tools andProduction (NICMAP) since 1983, has been appointed DirectorCentral Machine Tool Institute, Bangalore.

During his nearly 30years of service withCMTI, Shri Kernshetti hasworked in several respon-sible positions. Heunderwent intensivetraining for two years inCzechoslovakia and theU.K. in metal cutting,cutting tools and manu-facturing systemsincluding grouptechnology. During 1975-80, he was engaged insetting up the MetalWorking ResearchInstitute ol Iran.

Since 1983 he has held charge of Production AdvisoryServices, Research in Metal Cutting and Prototype Manufac-ture.

As Principal Coordinator of NICMAP, Shri Kemshettiinitiated development of computerised databases and set upcomputer-aided technical information service.

We extend over hearty felicitations to Shri Kemshetti onhis appointment as Director of CMTI and wish him all success.

ErratumNIS3AT N«w»t*tt»f Vol. 11, No. 1, Jan.-March 1992.

Page 22. "Workshop on Computer Networking". The workshopwas organized by National Centre for Software Technology(NCST) Bombay and not by INFLIBNET as reported. Theerror is regretted.

21


22

INSDOC Short-Term Training Programme(January 1993-March 1993)

Tltltle Duration & Date

1. CDS/ISIS (Version 3) with Pascal Interface (4 Jan.-29 Jan. 1993){for those having exposure to CDS/ISIS (Ver. (4 weeks)1.0) (NISSAT Supported)

2. On-line Information Retrieval 3 Feb.-5 Feb. 1993

3. Computer Application to Library & Information 8 Feb.-12 March 1993Activities (for freshers) (NiSSAT Supported) (5 weeks)

4. UNIX Operating System 15 Mar.-19 March 1993{1 week)

5. Recent Developments in Information Science (22 Mar.-2 Apr. 1993)& Technology (NISSAT Supported) (2 weeks)

Course Fees: 5 Weeks 4 Weeks 2 Weeks 1 Week 3 DaysWith accommodation 3,500 2,750 1,500Without

accommodation 2,800 2,250 1,200 1,000 750

A number of Short-term Courses (including evening and week-end) on computer application and relatedareas are being planned during April 1993/March 1994. Course calendar will be available from January1993 onwards.

Eligibility: The courses are exclusively meant for Library/Information/Computer professionals. PersonsWorking in these Centers, and having library/information/computer science qualifications are eligible toapply. Fresh candidates having Bachelor's degree and qualifications in library/information/computer scienceare also eligible to apply.

How to Apply: Applications are to be made in the prescribed form available on request.For further information contact:

B.K. Sen, Deputy Head, Education & Training Division, INSDOC, 14 Satsang Vihar Marg, New Delhi-110 067.

Phone: 6863521, 660141/223, 667009. Telex 031-73099Gram-INSDOC. NEW DELHI.

Spillover

We regret the delay in the publication of this issue due to unavoidable reasons.

The 11 th CommandmentThou shall not Committee.

NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 3, 100^

time for a coordinating nissat - npl news and events ... · c/opid, new delhi-110012. shri p.o....

Documents