Knowledge-sharing activities in India.

ABSTRACT

Libraries in India are striving to provide necessary and relevant information to their users. Limited resources have been one main barrier to satisfying the growing informational needs of the users. Now, the Indian libraries are planning various methods of resource sharing to help meet information demands. Attitudes of library and institutional managements have undergone a change, to become more open to the benefits of resource sharing. A number of formal arrangements are being made for resource sharing among the libraries. A number of resource-sharing activities are discussed in this article, broadly arranged under four headings: National Information System in Science and Technology (NISSAT) National Information Centres (NIC); library consortia; document delivery services; and interlibrary cooperation.

INTRODUCTION

India is one of the largest countries in Asia, with a land area of 3,287,263 square kilometers. It has a land frontier of 15,200 kilometers and a coastline of 7,516.5 kilometers. Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal and Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea are parts of India. Its population is 1,027,015,247 (2001 census) (Manorama YearBook, 2005). Today India is producing a very large number of skilled workers. It has an active satellite space program and is recognized as a nuclear power. India's recent achievements are possible at least in part due to information and knowledge dissemination. Therefore, India is striving to become a knowledge superpower.

The contribution of libraries to India's advancement is phenomenally important. Libraries in India have struggled with many problems, but recent government support for research has provided an opportunity for the development of library services and increased access to information. Government encouragement of funding of private organizations through tax benefits has also led to investment in libraries and information as part of research activities. The need for Indian researchers and scientists to compete in the global context has led libraries to seek several alternatives for providing increased access to information. Resource sharing is one of the primary functions of the libraries, which has enabled them to provide increased access to information for their users.

Every library attempts to use all its resources to achieve its stated objectives, to provide the best possible services. It is usually not possible for any single library to procure all the materials that are relevant to its users. This has become especially true with the literature explosion in recent decades. Naturally, libraries try to borrow materials from one another informally, but informal borrowing is difficult to sustain without more formal agreements between libraries. In the context of ever-increasing demands for information and limited resources, it became necessary for all libraries to develop agreements for the sharing of materials and information. Resource sharing includes sharing of various types of resources, such as human, infrastructural, and information, but the main emphasis continues to be on sharing of materials.

Libraries in developing countries face particular problems procuring library materials and information resources. This is due to lower currency values in the international market and to limited financial resources, along with regular increases in subscription prices. Most libraries are supported by different levels of government either directly or through government-funded agencies. In India many libraries were procuring the same materials from the same sources and spending large amounts of funds. In turn, libraries were finding it difficult to procure alternate resources due to limited funds. Therefore, they were denying access to a full selection of information resources. There was increasing frustration among the information providers and seekers about limited access to existing and available information resources.

There were several studies on procurement and use of similar expensive resources, especially secondary resources, and duplication of high-priced resources by many libraries in India. There were repeated complaints that use was not optimum, and cost per use was estimated to be very high. When this crisis reached its peak, libraries, government agencies, and even the concerned ministries started working together to find ways to make better use of limited budgets to provide access to increased numbers of resources as well as make optimum use of the resources to enable the scientists and researchers to become more information rich.

Libraries in India have developed many schemes to make optimum use of library resources and to provide access to increased amounts of materials through resource sharing. Over a period of time several attempts have been made. The overall success of these plans or attempts is difficult to evaluate. However, it is a fact that approaches have been varied in nature and experiences have been mixed. Some of the major initiatives taken by libraries and other agencies in India for resource sharing in libraries and information centers are discussed in this article.

Resource-sharing activities in Indian libraries can be grouped broadly into four categories:

1. Establishment of National Information System in Science and Technology (NISSAT) National Information Centres (NIC)

2. Library Consortia

3. Document Delivery Service (DD)

4. Interlibrary Cooperation

NISSAT AND SICs

The National Committee on Science and Technology of India (NCST) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), with support from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), developed a national-level plan in 1977 known as NISSAT (National Information System in Science and Technology). It was established with the main objectives of organizing information support facilities for customers engaged in research and academics, promotion of existing information systems and services, introduction of modern information handling tools and techniques, and promotion of cooperation in information access. Its main goal was to establish a bridge between information resource developers and information users in diverse subjects (NISSAT, n.d. a).

In addition to those mentioned above, one of NISSAT's objectives is to develop internal linkages among the information industry, its promoters, and its users. NISSAT supported and sponsored development of library networks in India in order to use information technology in libraries and also to promote resource sharing. It sponsored the preparation of union catalogs in science and technology, initiated rationalization of periodical subscriptions, and advanced the concept of universal library access. NISSAT also sponsored creation of subject databases in the subjects in which the Indian contributions and literature are not properly represented. Two of the indigenous databases sponsored by NISSAT are Food Technology Abstracts and Leather Science Abstracts. This program covers the entire spectrum of science and technology. NISSAT activities have strengthened the library movement in India.

NISSAT also worked for the introduction of priced or fee-for-service information services with a motive of meeting the user's demand for high-quality materials and timely provision. It also had close interaction with international organizations such as UNESCO and the Regional Network for the Exchange of Information and Experiences in Science and Technology in Asia and the Pacific (ASTINFO). Such interaction enhanced international linkages and the flow of information resources. During the period of the NISSAT project, several activities and initiatives were planned and executed. The NISSAT program brought about a number of important changes in information management in India.

Under this program, the major activity has been the development of what were first called Sectoral Information Centres (SICs) and are now called National Information Centres, though they are still commonly called SICs (NISSAT, n.d. b). These centers provide bibliographic, factual, and numeric information as a product to the scientists in the country. Each SIC is supposed to develop information and information sources in a particular or assigned discipline, including micro-disciplines. The sources include both Indian and foreign materials. The centers serve as national bases for information work in their assigned fields and disciplines. They supply copies of documents on request to the users and in turn act as document delivery centers. They also prepare special bibliographies and provide patent search, translation services, and interlibrary loan.

To summarize, the activities of the SICs include the following:

* Preparation of subject bibliographies and union catalogs

* Information retrieval on request

* Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) services

* Building information on patents, specifications, and standards

* Carrying out surveys, preparation of state of art reports, and scientific and technological forecasting

* Provision of translation, reprographic services, etc.

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