National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR)

NISCAIR, New Delhi, was established on 30th September 2002 after the merger of NISCOM and INSDOC, both dedicated to the dissemination and documentation of S&T information. They were part of CSIR.

INSDOC, established in 1952, provided S&T information and documentation services, including abstracting, database development, translation, and human resource development. It hosted the National Science Library and the SAARC Documentation Centre. NISCOM, formerly PID, emerged in 1996, offering various information products, such as research and popular science journals, encyclopaedic publications, and books, catering to diverse audiences.

NISCAIR, a premier institute of CSIR, utilizes modern IT infrastructure to serve society. Its focus areas include knowledge networking, natural resource databases, science communication, popularization, and S&T information management. Activities are categorized as Information Products and Services, Information Resources, and Projects.

Mission: NISCAIR's mission: Custodian of knowledge, promoting science communication using appropriate tech.

Indian National Bibliography

    The first issue of INB “Quarterly” brought out but central Reference Library, Calcutta, was released on 15th august 1958 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

Since 1964, it has been published as monthly and cumulated every year. It works as a subordinate office of the ministry of culture GoI. 

 

“B.S. Kesavan is called as Father of INB”
           (First Librarian after Independent)  

“INB comes under secondary sources”

Computerized INB Brought out in June 2000 using Libsys Software and GIST Technology 

Libraries and information networks List in Indian

• The Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET);
• The Delhi Library Network (DELNET);
• The Biotechnology Information System (BTIS);
• The Scientific and Industrial Research Network (SIRNET);
• The Technology Information System (TIFACLINE);
• The Calcutta Library Network (CALIBNET);
• The Madras Library Network (MALIBNET);
• The Bombay Library Network (BONET);
• The Mysore Library Network (MYLIBNET); and
• The Pune Library Network (PUNENET).

The Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) - 1991
UGC was launched in May 1991.located in Infocity, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Library Network(DELNET)- 1988 

Old name : The Delhi Library Network 

Established in 1988.
NISSAT took the initiative in setting up DELNET.
DELNET also provides CAS and SDI services, consultancy in library computerization, training and H.R.D.

The Biotechnology Information System (BTIS- NET) -1987
establish in 1987

India was the first country in the world to establish in 1987 a Biotechnology Information System (BTIS) network to create an infrastructure that enables it to harness biotechnology through the application of Bioinformatics. The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has taken up this infrastructure development project and created a distributed network at a very low cost.

The Scientific and Industrial Research Network (SIRNET)- 

The National Knowledge Commission (NKC)

 NKC was established by The Indian government on June 13, 2005, for a duration of three years, from October 2, 2005, to October 2, 2008. As a senior advisory body to The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. concentrating on a few key areas, such as e-governance, agriculture, industry, science and technology, and education. 

    Easy access to knowledge, creation and preservation of knowledge systems, dissemination of knowledge and better knowledge services are core concerns of the commission.

    The Commission envisaged the future road map for the growth and development of academic libraries by imbibing core issues such as, set up a national commission on libraries, prepare a national census of all libraries, revamp LIS education, training and research facilities, re-assess staffing of libraries, set up a central library fund, modernize library management, encourage greater community participation in library management, promote information communication technology applications in all libraries, facilitate donation and maintenance of private collections, and encourage public private partnerships in LIS development, etc.

    The most important recommendation of NKC regarding university libraries is that by 2015 the number of universities should be 1500 to cater to the needs of the youth. make it possible for India to reach a gross enrollment ratio of at least 15% by 2015. 
    

    Sad to Hear this: The National Knowledge Commission was abolished by the new Indian government that took office in the summer of 2014, so as of July 2014.

Library networks and development of consortia

access most advanced media including CD-ROM, the Internet and other electronic formats of information resources. Today libraries are witnessing the network based era having connected to vast ocean of the Internet based information. The use of ICTs have placed the Indian academic libraries at par with the libraries the world over.

The Information for Library Network (INFLIBNET) set up by the UGC as an autonomous interuniversity centre in 1991 proved to be a landmark to interlink the academic libraries.

 It is involved in modernizing university libraries in India and connects these to a nation-wide-high speed data network.

 

The INFLIBNET promotes 

automation of libraries, 

develop standards; 

creates union catalogues of serials, theses, books, monographs and non-book materials; 

provide access to bibliographic information resources; 

creates database of projects, institutions, specialists; 

organizes training programmes, etc.

    The INFLIBNET  also developed ‘Software for University Libraries’, a library automation software more popularly called as SOUL.

    Other national networks and library networks have developed in addition to INFLIBNET.

Notable networks include INDONET, ERNET, CALIBNET, DELNET, MALIBNET, and the National Informatic Centre's Network (NICNET). These networks increased resource sharing and expanded the user base's information access.

    The consortia are usually intended to meet the information needs of stakeholders in a homogenous group. The consortium approach began in India in 1982 with emergence of the Forum for Resource Sharing in Astronomy and Astrophysics (FORSA). This was initiated for sharing resources available in astronomy libraries in the nation and was extended to physics and mathematics libraries in 2004.

    FORSA's objectives and activities: The Indian Digital Library in Engineering Science and Technology (INDEST) was established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development of the Government of India to give all Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and other institutions, such as NITs, ISM, IIMs, NITTTRs, etc. access to electronic resources.
Indian Digital Library in Engineering Science and Technology (INDEST) headquarter is at IIT Delhi.

The National Knowledge Resource Consortium : (NKRC) was established in 2009. It is a network of libraries and information centres of 39 National Laboratories and institutes of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and 24 institutes of the Department of Science and Technology.

The Health Science Library and Information Network: (HELINET) was launched during March 2003 with an aim to improve the "quality of education and research in institutions of health sciences" in Karnataka through enhanced "access to high quality medical information". The consortium facilitates access from leading publishers to 600 scholarly, international biomedical journals to members/institutions. 

Agricultural universities, veterinary universities, and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutions have access to more than 3000 journals in the broad spectrum of agricultural sciences through the Consortium for e-Resources in Agriculture (CeRA). 

The UGC-INFONET Digital Library Consortium was launched by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam at Vidya Bhawan on 28th December 2003 on the concluding day of Golden Jublee celebrations of the UGC.

The consortium facilitates current as well as archival access to more than 7,500 core and peer-reviewed electronic journals and 10 bibliographic databases from world famous publishers, scholarly societies and aggregators.
In the first phase, access to e-resources was offered to 50 universities having the Internet connectivity under the UGC-INFONET networking program. Thereafter, the consortium access was extended to 209 universities under the purview of UGC. The consortium provides access to e-resources in almost all disciplines including arts, humanities, social sciences, physical sciences, chemical sciences, life sciences, computer sciences, management, mathematics and statistics.