Chapter 5

~ n rf I i h r ~ r\l N ~hAl" r It' c::1w&""-'- .... ..,. ""'. J •• ......,." •• "' •• ,'"

5.0 Introduction

A study of the existing information systems and library and information

networks will help in the designing of a new information system in the field of

study. There are different levels of information systems and networks such as

international, national, regional, local etc. There are general information

systems and specific subject information systems. This chapter gives an

account of the related information systems such as MEDLARS and EMBASE,

which are two important internationai medicai information systems in modern

medicine, NiSSAT which is india's Nationai information System for Science

and Technoiogy. it aiso gives an account of the various iibrary and information

networKs at the internationai and nationai ievei.

~ 1 Intp.rn~ti()n~1 Inf()rm~ti()n ~v~tp.m~ ~nrl np.tw()rk~-" .... _ ..• _ •• _ .. _ ..... _ .... _ •• _ .. -J-'-"'- -"- .. _ ••• _ ... -

There are a number of information systems are available at the

international level. Practically individual information systems are available for

all major sUbjects. Some of the most important subject oriented information

systems in applied and basic sciences are MEDLARS, EMBASE, BIOSIS, CA

SEARCH, INIS, AGRiS and iNSPEC. The important iibrary and information

networks at the internationai ievel includes the Internet, OCLC, iSONET AND

AGLiNET.

5.1.1 Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System

(MEDLARS)

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) of the United States was originally

established in 1836 as the Library of the Army Surgeon General's Office. After

120 years of sponsorship by the armed forces, the library was redesignated in

1956 as the National Library of Medicine by an act of the Congress and was

transferred to the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare. The first

issue of index Medicus, a bibliographic buiietin of world literature in the field

of medicine appeared in january1879. in 1964, a computerised system known

as MEDLARS (Medicai Literature Anaiysis and Retrievai System) was set up

for producing index Medicus. 1 An oniine retrievai system MEDLiNE came into

operation in iate -j 97-j with access via the TYMNET (a computerised

teiecommunication network. managed as a commerciai undertak.ing by a

l1Q

The NLM constitutes a Medical Library Network (MLN) at the national level

which serves as a national resource for all U S health science libraries. MLN

consists of 400 Basic unit libraries. mostly at hospitals, 125 resource libraries

at medical schools and 7 regional medical libraries. About 2 million inter

iibrary ioan requests are attended to every year. 2

There is an OFFICE of Computer and Communication Systems (OCCS) to

provide information processing capability to meet NLM needs for

disseminating biomedical information. operating library programmes and

providing Management Information System to NLM including office automation.

it has the following four branches: 3

Development Branch

ii Applications Service Branch

iii Systems Support Branch

iv Computer Services

MEDLARS containing more than 40 databases is the most extensive and

popular biomedical information system in the world. The literature published

and unpublished in all the areas of health sciences including dentistry.

nursing, cancer, AIDS, toxicity. population and health planning and

administration are covered in this system. 4

Special Information Services in MEDLARS includes

1. TOXLINE (Toxicology Information Online)

140

2. CHEMLINE (Chemical Dictionary Online)

3. RTECS (Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances)

4. DIRLINE (Directory of Information Resources Online)

5. HSDB (Hazardous Substances Data Bank) and

6. CCRiS (Chemical Carcinogenesis Research Information

System) 5

One of the most widely used, databases of the MEDLARS is MEDLINE. The

unique feature of MEDLINE is its availability via Internet entirely free of cost

and its accessibility from any part of the world. In MEDLINE. articles from bio­

medical periodicals are scanned and indexed by means of a controlled

vocabuiary called MeSH (Medical Subject Headings). On an average 13 key

words are assigned to each document. In a search conducted in MEDLINE on

25 th February 2001 it was found that there are i i miiiion records which

inciudes references and abstracts from 4300 biomedicai journais. There were

i i 229 articies on indigenous medicine, out of which 2084 were on herbai

medicine and -1-12 on Ayurveda.e

5.1.2 EMBASE (Excerpta Medica database)

EMBASE is a comprehensive and international bibliographic information

system of the drug and biomedical literature created by the publishing

company Elsevier, New York. EMBASE database is available in Online and

CD-ROM versions. It provides fully indexed citations and complete author

141

abstracts. It provides information from more than 3,800 journals published in

70 countries. 7

EMBASE covers topics like drug research, pharmacology, pharmaceutics,

pharmacy, side effects and interactions, toxicology, human medicine, basic

biological sciences. biotechnology. biomedical engineering and

instrumentation. health poliCy and management and pharmacoeconomics.

public, occupational and environmental health, pollution, substance

dependence and abuse, psychiatry and forensic science. For vocabulary

control EMBASE is using EMTREE, a hierarchically ordered, synonym­

controlled thesaurus with aimost 40,000 drug and medical indexing terms and

i 70,000 synonyms.s EMBASE Online is avaiiabie through vendors iike

DataStar, DiALOG, DiMDI, LEXiS-NEXiS. Ovid Oniine and STN.

Other databases of interest to health professionals include Cochrane

Library (for evidence based medicine) Current Contents, BIOSIS (Biological

Sciences Information System). SCI search (Science Citation Index). CINAHL

(Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature). Journal of Citation

reports, etc. 9

5.1.3 Internet

The Internet is a collection of interlinked computer networks. It connects

millions of networks and the rate of increase in its use and new subscribers is

grOWing very rapidly. Internet started in 1969 as a single US network. i.e ..

ARPANET, a network created by advanced Research project Agency of the US

14?

department of Defence. In early 1980's this network split into two - one for

military use and other for civilian purposes. The interconnection between them

came to be known as internet. Other networks such as BITNET (Because its

Time Network) .. CSNET (Computer Science Network). NSFNET (National

Science Foundation Network), JANET and NREN (Nationai Research and

Education Network) were developed and connected with the internet. internet

is thus a coiiection of interiinked computer networks, or a network of networks.

it provides giobai connectivity via a mesh of networks using the TCPiiP

protocois. 10

Many. types of computers are connected to the Internet. The Internet is

made up of three kinds of networks. They are:

• High speed backbone networks, such as the super computers at San

Diego. Cornell. Pittsburgh and Illinois.

• Midlevel networks, such as those at Universities and Corporations.

• Small networks, such as those individual LAN's and computer at the

individual companylinstitution/office etc. 11

The three basic Internet applications are- e-mail, remote login, and file

transfer. A wide variety of pUblic domain and commercial information sources

are currently available on the Internet. with new sources being announced

every day. These include, bibliographicai/fuii text databases, tabie of contents

of journais, discussion forums, preprints, technical reports, directories,

141

teaching and training material, data archives (software, numeric data,

documents). library catalogues etc.'2

The Internet service was available in India on non-commercial basis since

1980 for educational purpose by ERNET. The ERNET users are mainly

academic and research institutions. non-governmental organizations and to a

iimited extent private and internationai organizations. Another agency provides

internet is NIC (National informatics Centre), which provides state-of-the-art

soiutions and support to decision making and information management within

government as weii as the corporate sector. Commerciai internet service was

started in india in i 995 by VSNL (Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited). The

Gateway internet Access Service (GiAS) is a fuii-featured internet avaiiabie

from 20 nodes operated by VSNL. Besides these three internet providers at

government sector sOJ'ne private agencies aiso providing ir"lternet now in ir"ldia.

Some of the important agencies among them are BT-Bharati, which provides

"mantra online" and Satyam computers which provides "Satyam Online". 13

A number of Indian sites are available on Internet. www.

Indianbookshop.com is one of the leading bookstores on Internet which gives

the widest coverage of books on all the major categories by renowned Indian

authors. This site enables one to explore the information on various categories

like culture, reiigion, science, Ayurveda, history, sports, handicrafts, exports,

travels, poiitics, meditation and many more. The number of books available on

this site is ever increasing with thousands of books added each day. it is even

possible to get the details of books beionging to the i 8th century. Another site

www.bcinidia.comis one of india's foremost and efficient online book source ,

144

the newly released books on anyone's subject of interest can be seen here.

Orders can be placed through the Internet and books are delivered at the

doorstep. Another site on Indian books. www.dkagencies.com. started by OK

Agency comprises of over hundred thousand Indian titles in the English

language alone. There are many more indian sites on books, Indian

companies, organisations, institutions and individuals. 14

5.1.4 OCLC (Online Com outer Librarv Centre)" I .." ,

The OCLC, Online Computer Library Centre, originally established in 1963

as Ohio College Library Centre can be. considered as the first library network

to be established. 15 It is the largest computer and telecommunications network

of 14.000 libraries and information centres in the world. contains about 25

miilion records and nearly 2 million records are added each year. OCLC

provides a fuJi range of online products and services. Its main purpose is to

build the worid's preeminent bibiiographic database and computerised network

to compile and share the world's knowledge. Through this network libraries

benefit from reduction in operational cost as well as increase in access to

iibrary materials held in other iibraries. '6

5.1.5 AGLINET (World network of Aaricultural Libraries), ~ I

It consists of a chain of major agricultural libraries in each region or

country of the world within the framework of the International Association of

Agricultural Libraries and Oocumentalists (IAALO). The main objective of the

14'\

AGlI NET is tp promote mutual and regional exploitation of library resources

for the benefit of the world's agricultural development through systematic

collaboration among agricultural libraries for the efficient provision for inter­

library loan services and bibliog raphic information. 17

5.1.6 ISONET (International Standards Organisation Network)

It is a network comprising the National Standards Information Centres and

the links between them. It includes the ISO Information Centre in Geneva

which has the responsibility to collect. organise. index. and disseminate

information for international standardising documents similar to the national

responsibility for national documents. 18

Besides these there are a number of library and information networks at

the international and regional level like ChiN (International Chemical

Information Networks). STN (Scientific & 'Technical Information Network).

DEVINSA (Development Information Network on South Asia), APINES (Asia­

Pacific information Network in Social Sciences), RINAP (Regional Informatics

Network for Asia and the Pacific) etc.

5.2

Compared to the western world the computerised library and information

systems are later developments in India. Still in India now a number of

information systems and networks are at different stages of development.

Some of them are almost fUlly functional and in many other cases the major

part of the work is over. Some of the important National Information Systems

and Networks in India are described below.

5.2.1 National Information Systems for Science and Technology

(NISSAT)

Among the various National Information Systems in India the most

important one is NISSAT. It was launched on 13 ih may 1977. The broad

objectives of NISSAT are

1. Development of national information services

2. Promotion of existing information systems and services

3. Introduction of modern information handling tools and techniques.

4. Promotion of international cooperation in information

5. Development of indigenous products and services

6. Organization of skill deveiopment programmes

7. Promotion of R&D in information Science and Technology. 19

The NISSAT programme has the mandate to cover the entire spectrum of

science and technology. However, during the process of programme

implementation. special care is taken not to dwell upon subjects already being

handled by other national programme like BTIS. ENVIS or an agency like the

ICAR.

147

NISSAT uses the public telecom facility for networking and service

generation; organizes training workshops through professional bodies and

institutions: adopts database development projects in institutions with

significant inform~tion resources and expertise on the specific sUbjects. 2.D

The main components of NISSAT are:

1. The NISSAT National focal point in the Department of Science and

Technology. and

2. The NISSAT Network of Services.

The NISSAT National Focal Point is advised and guided by the NISSAT

Advisory Committee, the Executive Committee and ad hoc Working Groups

and serviced by a small secretariat of professionals and experts. The NISSAT

Network consists of: (a) the Sectoral System of Sectoral Information Centres

on different sectors based on disciplines, products, missions, etc., and their

locai information units (LiUs); (b) the Regional System comprising Regionai

Centres (RGs); and (c) other speciaiized supporting services. 2.1

The Sectoral Centres are the most important sectors of NISSAT. They

maintain extensive collections of published and unpublished documents in the

assigned subject. including acquisitions of foreign literature. to serve as the

national base for information work. Besides providing document and preparing

bibliographies on request, they offer seiective dissemination of information

(SDi), current awareness services (CAS), reprographic and micrographic

14R

services, industrial and technical enquiry services, technical translation and

similar access-delivery services.22

The main functions of the Local Information Units are to provide scientific,

technical and economic information necessary for the functioning of the parent

institution. to act as recipients of information from Sectoral centres and to

feed information generated in the parent institution to the SCs and Regional

information Centres. :l3

The three reaional centres were set uo at Calcutta. Madras and Mumbai.- ..The main functions of the Regional Information Centres are

• to act as the NISSAT contact points for users in the region for supply

of documents and services from the sectoral systems;

• to provide referral service to the region served by the centre;

• to survey the information sources of the region and to organize their

mobilization for feeding to sectoral centres and for meeting the

regional information demands;

• to prepare and maintain union catalogues of the literature sources of

the region:

• to keep bibliographies and union catalogues and other references of

the various Sectoral Centres for reference by the users of the region:

• to establish reprographic facilities for supply of copies of documents

available in the region to users on demand and to Sectoral Centres:

and

14Q

• to supplv copies of documents available in the reaion on reauest and.... . -- .

to arrange for supply of documents not available in the region

through concerned Sectoral Centres. 2.;

Among the other specialized services the most important one is VAPIS

(Value-Added Patent Information Systems). With the Changed Intellectual

Property Rights regime at the global level. it became necessary to strengthen

the patent information activities. NISSAT has established VAPIS primarily in

Chemistry & Chemical Technology and Engineering. The two centres are

located at the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune and the Central

Manufacturing Technology institute, Bangalore. :l5

In order to bring the information support to the scientists and technologists

in India. NISSAT has a programme to establish Access Centres to

International Database Services (NACIDS). NISSAT has organized a national

collection of all CD-ROM databases on India and about India at Foundation for

Innovations and Technology Transfer at Indian Institute of Technology,

Delhi. 2G

NISSAT has also started Internet based activities. It has established web

sites/servers on

1. Indian Ocean Server, at NIO, Goa

2. MYLIBNET at CFTRI. Mysore

3. Indian Consultancy at CDC. New Delhi

4. Indian S&T at the IISc., Bangalore.

In collaboration with NCSI at IISc, NISSAT has set up an Electronic Mail

Discussion Forum called Lisforum for providers and users of information

services in India. The facility provides an e-mail based electronic forum for its

participants to discuss issues of relevance to library and information

services27-

NISSAT has taken the initiative for promoting resource sharing activities,

aimed at ensuring better utilization of ..information resources. It has

participated in the development of various library networks and the

preparation of union catalogues. by providing financial and technical helps. It

also organizes workshops and other training programmes to the library and

information centre staff members mainiy to teach them the application of

computer and other modern gadgets used in the information processing and

retrievaL They aiso distribute and heip to instaii software packages to the

iibraries. 29

5.2.2 Biotechnology Information System (BTIS)

BTISNET, set up by -the Department of Biotechnology, Government of

India, is a specialised network linking the information centres in genetic

engineering. cell culture. biology. etc. It is a successful Bioinformatics

programme. having ten Distributed Information Centres (DICs) and 23

Distributed Information Sub-Centres (DISCs) are operational now. The network

has been equipped with modern computers and communication system. These

centres aiso having trained manpower to cope up with the fast-growing

1" 1

requirements in bioinformatics. Over 150 technical personnel are engaged

here to provide vital support to promote biotechnology research and

development in the country.

Most of the centres are now connected with the satellite communication

network of NICNET. The use of the INTERNET and the sharing of resources

has been accelerated with the help of BTISNET. Home Pages on Department

of Biotechnology and Biotechnology Information system have been hosted on

the iNTERNET for woridwide access. The various pubiications and databases

created by the participating centres are avaiiabie through the BTISNET. The

Bioinformatics Centre at the University of Pune, which is DiC of BTiS has

deveioped a number of software packages for Biotechnoiogy Research

appiications in coilaboration with C-DAC, Pune. 29

The various centres.. have conducted several training

programmes/workshops. Atleast 200 researchers have been trained every

year. Two participating centres. Madhurai Kamaraj University and University of

Pune are offering Advance Diploma Course in Bioinformatics.

5.2.3 Environmental Information Svstem (ENVIS)- , ,

The ENVIS network consists of 21 nodes, known as ENVIS centres in

specific subject areas and the Focal Point at the Ministry of Environment and

Forests. The activities of the nodes are information collection. collation.

storage. retrieval and dissemination. The ENVIS centres and focal point are

responding to the queries both national and international.

1<;7

The ENVIS centres are connected to each other through the ERNET

programme of the Department of Electronics. The ENVIS also functions as a

National Focal Point and a Regional Service Centre for the South Asian Sub

Region countries for INFOTERRA network. a global information network of the

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). As a Regionai Service

Centre of INFOTERRA the ENViS network provides information to Bangladesh,

Srilanka, Nepai, Pakistan and Bhutan in response to the queries received from

them. ENViS has aiso been designated as the Nationai Focai Point of the

Sustainabie Deveiopment Network Programming (SDNP) of UNDP. 30

ENVIS also works in close liaison with various other national information

systems in the country for exchange of environmental information and to avoid

duplication of efforts in the fields of environment and its associated areas.

Besides creating databases various ENVIS centres are publishing journals and

newsletters in their respective subject areas.

5.2.4 NICNET

It is an infrastructural network (which provide the hardware, software,

protocols. and freeways for the free flow of information). lunched by the

National Informatics Centre. NICNET started in 1988 with assistance from

Planning Commission, Government of India, linking some 800 nodes

connecting the national capital with the state capita is and district

headquarters. 31

NICNET is unique in that it uses almost exclusively, satellite-based

communication using low cost roof-top micro-earth stations to connect 450

district headquarters and 32 state and union territory capitals with a central

hub at Delhi. Another unique feature of NICNET is that it uses 500 Very Small

Aperture Terminals (VSATs), each of which is connected to a specific

outbound and inbound channei on the sateiiite's transponder. Data transmitted

by a VSAT is received and reiayed via the sateiiite (iNSAT ; 0) to another

VSAT, aii of which are addressabie. VSATs have been used to connect

computers, terminais, teiexes, or other devices to other computersidevices via

the sateiiite. Because of the technoiogyused, even remote corners of the

country can be connected without recourse to teiephone lines, muitipiexers,

,rJoderns etc. j~

NICNET has large mainframes at four cities in the country and supermini

computers at the state capitals and union territories. all linked via the VSATs

and satellite. NICNET is designed primarily to be a government information

network. Its objectives are to promote the collection. storage, analysis,

transmission, and exchange of data at the districts, state headquarters and

the centrai ministries and departments at New Deihi for use in pianning,

management, and monitoring of projects and government sponsored

programmes under the five-year pians of the country. However, the potentiai

of a network such as NiCNET is indeed quite wide. For instance it has been

used during emergencies caused by naturai caiamities. Simiiariy, it has been

used to obtain probiem-soiving heip and information in heaith and agriculturai

reiated areas.

Although NICNET is principally meant for use by Government departments,

it does have the potential for use by the library and information community. It

is possible to mount databases on one or more of the mainframes of NICNET

for on-line access by users in government. The Indian MEDLARS Centre (IMC)

of the NIC in fact has mounted the MEDLINE database on one of NIC's

minicomputers at Delhi and this is remoteiy searchable using dial-up access

from NiCNET terminais in the country. in addition to the MEDLiNE database,

the iMC provides dial-up access to CD-ROM databases of the US Nationai

Library of Medicine, and to Bioiogicai Abstracts and the Science Citation

index.~3

NICNET is always trying to keep abreast of the latest technologies in

satellite-based communication. so the library community in the country.

especially the Governmental sector should stake their claim to use NICNET

wherever possible. NICNET can be effectively utilised in the formation of new

nationai information systems in various subjects in the public sector.

5.2.5 INFLIBNET

In 1986, a national policy on library and information system was formulated

wherein it was recommended that the national libraries should form an

integrated system for a better coordination of their activities and services. The

Planning Commission had set up a working group on modernisation of library

and information services for the 7~h pian to suggest measures to network

important libraries in the country so that their resources couid be shared for

optimum utiiisation. The UGC, under the chairmanship of Prof. Yas Pal,

formulated the plan in 1988 on Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET)

which proposed a mechanism to establish a network connecting libraries in

universities. colleges. and institutions affiliated to the CSIR. ICMR. ICAR.

DR DO and government departments. When full fledged. it is envisaged that

iNFLiBNET wiii network i 84 universities and 23 institutions deemed to be

universities, 7200 coiieges and over 200 iibraries affiiiated to other

organisations. it is envisaged as a muiti-service network and wiii provide

catalogue-based services, access to database~ and document suppiy services,

and facilities for computer mediated communications such as e-mail,

conferencing, builetin board, etc. 34

INFLIBNET is designed to operate at four different levels, viz., national,

regional, sectoral and local. The National Centre will coordinate the activities

and services of the network and provide the policy frame for the network.

Regional centres in north, east, west and south of the country will be

estabiished in designated university libraries in the different regions. These

wiil maintain regional union catalogues. Sectorai centres wiil be at specialized

institutions, e.g. CSiR iaboratories, and these wiii create and maintain

speciaiized databases in specific discipiines or missions. End-users wiii be

serviced, at the iocai ievei, i.e. at the coiieges, R&D centres, university

libraries, etc. About 400 locai nodes are proposed to be setup initially. in

addition, iNFLiBNET proposes the estabiishment of 100 documef,t iesource

centres in different universities and R&D centres. These centres will be the

focal points in a country-wide document delivery service. The network will use

both satellite-based and terrestrial communication channels for con nectivity.

The system will libraries, 50

autonomous colleges and 200 other centres. Intra-city links will be provided

via local area networks .

. INFLIBNET is expected to evolve standards based on national and

international practices for uniform adoption throughout the network. A capital

expenditure of Rs. 10300.82 lakhs and a recurring annual expenditure of Rs.

4767.63 iakhs is the estimated need. Further, it is recommended that the

whoie expenditure on capitai goods and services required and· working capitai

be provided by the Centrai Government. 35

5.2.6 INDONET

INOONET is a commercial distributed computer network to provide access

to the computing power and software resources of the CMC Ltd .. a public

sector company in India. The objective is to provide computing power and

software to users who cannot afford or fully justify, investment in dedicated

hardware and expensive, specialized business and scientific software.

INDONET has three IBM mainframes at Calcutta, Mumbai and Chennai and

smaiier computers at Deihi and Hyderabad. 35 The network uses dedicated

lines operating at 2400 to 4800 tips. it has plans to use roof-top antennas and

packet switching for data routing, within the nodes of the network. Intra-city

access to iNDONET computers via iine-of-sight packet radio is aiso being

investigated. The Mumbai node of iNDONET is connected to VSNL's GPSS

enabiing cornputer-to-cornputer abroad. iNDONET aiso i-las pians to rnount

public databases on one or more of its computers. The primary objective of the

project is the establishment of a network of computing centres accessible from

1<;7

remote parts of the country so as to deliver the benefits of information

resources management to a wider section of users in the country. However.

the cost of using INDONET will be probably preclude its use by the library and

information community to any appreciable degree. especially since cheaper

aiternatives have become avaiiabie. 37

5.2.7 SIRNET (Scientific and Industrial Research Network), ,

It is proposed to interconnect all the CSIR laboratories (22 laboratories

have already been connected) and other R&D institutions in India. It is to

harness the vast S&T information resources available with national

laboratories. and inculcate the habit of resource sharing among them. The

uitimate ailii of the SiRNET is to link the entire scientific community of the

nation with the nationai iibrary system and the internationai iinks to achieve

efficient scientific communication. The services proposed to be avaiiable on

SiRNET are e-mail, fiie transfer, document transfer. access to indigenous and

international databases. INSDOC, New Delhi node of SIRNET has established

access to over 'j 800 internationai databases on -j 5 different hosts through

VSNL's GPSS facility. SiRNET operates through I-NET which is the main

nationai data network.. 38

5.2.8 ERNET

!t was initiated by the Department of E!ectronics (DOE) during the 7 th Plan

as a thrust area for setting up a computer network, as a part of UNDP project,

for academic and research community with initial participation from 5 IITs

(Delhi. Chennai. Mumbai. Kanpur and Kharagpur). liSe. NCST. and DOE. The

development objective of ERNET is to enhance national capabilities in the

areas of design. development. research. education. and training on state-of-

the-art concepts of computer networking and reiated emerging technologies.

Over 300 institutions in the country reporting a cross section of universities,

governmentai societies, R&D organisations, research institutes are already

using it extensiveiy; over 20,000 users throughout the country. Services

avaiiabie on the network are e-maii.databaseaccess.fiie transfer, remote

iogin, information retrievai toois etc. 39

5.2.9 DELNET (Delhi Libraries Network)-The effort towards the established of network of libraries in Delhi was

initiated by the India International Centre as one of its projects sponsored by

NISSAT in January 1988 and the network became operational in 1990,

perhaps as the first library network in India. The main Objectives of DELNET

are promoting resource sharing among the libraries by developing a network of

libraries, storage and dissemination of information, offering computerised

information services to users, and to coordinate coiiection development in

iibraries so as to reduce unnecessary dupiication. At present DELNET has 57

iibraries as its members. The main activities of DELNET are promoting

database creation, resource sharing and eiectronic maii service. Oniine union

(;~i~iogut= of booi\s ir"l r"r'It=JrIbt=1 iibl~iit=s, union iisi of (;ulr't=ni st=li~is, and a

d~tabase of rnuiti-iinguai books have already been created. In addition to

online database services, DELNET organizes training programmes and

l'\Q

conducts conferences. Retro-conversion of catalogues and inter-library loan/

courier service are also undertaken by DELNET. It also acts as a referral

centre and publishes the DELNET Newsletter. 04o

5.2.10 CALIBNET (Calcutta Librarv Network), -,

The' CALIBNET was started in 1993 at Jadavpur University campus. The

National ,Information System for Science and Technology (NISSAT) took the

initiative in setting up CALIBNET. CMC Limited. Calcutta is implementing the

network. 41

It has b,een envisaged to cover 38 science and technology libraries in

Calcutta metropolitan area. It will have access to the VSNL. Mumbai through

Indian Public Switched Data Network (PSDN). Each of the participating

libraries is expected to automate their book acquisitions, cataloguing. serials

control. fund accounting and circulation control. The network centre will

provide on-iine access to the networks union catalogue, current awareness

services and inter-library loan faciiities. 42

'Libraries participating in CALIBNET will use AACR-2 bibliographic

description. It is using its own software package MAITRAYEE developed by

CMC Ltd. The software MAITRA YEE supports MARC records and will also

enable records to be imported/exported via the CCF format. CALIBNET will be

linked to DELNET via dial-up access and to external networks via the GPSS. 43

1llO

5.2.11 BONET fBombav Librarv Network)'\ " " ,

The BONET was commissioned on 6 th November 1992. This network is

sponsored by NISSAT. BONET is aimed at .promoting cooperation between

libraries in Bombay. It is envisaged to build a low cost library information

system which can possibly be used as a model for future expansion of this

service even outside Bombay. BONET is offering training related to library

computerisation and networking, and speeding up computerisation of Bombay

libraries.

BONET membership provides for access to its centralised catalogues and

for e-mail among BONET members. Access to library related services outside

Bombay in India and abroad has been made available to the members through

ERNET. 44

5.2.12 MALIBNET (Madras Library Network)

The Madras Library Network, sponsored by INSDOC, was established in

1993. There are ten institutional members and five associate institutional

members in MALIBNET. In addition to these. 19 founder members of the

society are also treated as members. All the members are acting as resource

centres for MALIBNET. The five databases viz Medicinal and Aromatic Piants

Abstract (MAPA), Poiymer Science Abstracts, NUCSSi for Madras and

Bangaiore Region which covers 61 iibraries in Madras and 50 iibraries in

Bangaiore, indian Serials Contents on Muitimedia (iSCOMM) and the indian

Patents Databases which have been created and updated by INSDOC have

been Dorted on MALIBNET host svstem and are available for online access bv'. .

members. The information services of MALIBNET are open to all categories of

professionals. The services offered by MALIBNET include electronic mail

services, MALiBNET card, Express Document Procurement and Delivery and

CAPS. CAPS is a monthly service offered for the benefit of the research

scholars, scientists and faCUlty members. it comprises periodicai suppiy of

contents of 20 journais seiected from about 500 important tities. Co.ntents data

is suppiied through e-maii or on diskettes aiong with retrievai software or in

hard copy form as required by the users. '!5

Apart from these there are many other library and information networks

and research institutional and sUbject networks in India like ADINET.

PUNENET. HYLIBNET. DESINET. BLNET. NAGNET. BANKNET. COALNET.

RAILNET, TOURNET, SAILNET, VIDYANET etc.

5.3 Conclusion

Information systems and Library and Information Networks exist at

different levels like international. regional. national and local. At present

individual' information systems and online databases are available in every

modern subject fields. In the field of modern medicine MEDLiNE and EMBASE

are two important international oniine information databases.

If\?

Nowadays the Internet, which started as a world wide web for commercial

and recreational purpose holds the databases in all the subject fields including

science and technology. Millions of people scattered over 130 countries are

using it for information transfer and retrieval. Most of the important online

databases are now avaiiable through the internet.

At the national level a number of information systems and library and

information networks has bee.n developed or are under various stages of

development in India. Most important among them is the NISSAT which is

intended for the networking of all the premier research and educational

institutions in the fieid of science and technology in India. it has been

organized at various levels like national, regional, sectoral and local centres

and specijic duties are assigned to each type or organisations. NISSAT also

heips in the development oj various iibrary and information networks by

providing technicai and financiai assistance. A number of iibrary networks iike

DELi~ET. BONET, MALiBNET, PUNENET and CALiBNET were iaunched in our

country by H-It:~ initiative of NiSSAT.

The National Informatics Centre had been developed for helping in

decision-making and information management within the government and

corporate sector. For this purpose to be effective the NIC has developed a

nationwide computer communication network called NICNET which links the

national capital with the state capitals and district headquarters. Even though

the NICNET has been developed primariiy for the government purpose it can

be used effectively for the academic and research community in India for the

1 fl1

development of information networks in their subject fields and for making

available international databases through NICNET.

Another important large-scale network in India is INFLIBNET which

proposed a mechanism to establish a network connecting libraries in

universities, colleges. and institutions affiliated to the CSIR. ICMR. ICAR.

DRDO and government departments.

Apart from these a number of information systems and networks have been

developed in India, which leads a digital networking atmosphere in India that

facilitates easy and fast information storage and dissemination in various

SUbject fields in our country. This information infrastructure is the backbone

for the future scientific advancement of our country. Even though there are

significant achievements in this area, various subject fields like Indian

Systems of Medicine are stiii negiected, and information systems and other

modern information processing and disseminating measures are to be

deveioped in these areas for their further development.

1M

References

1. Krishan Kumar. National Library of Medicine (USA) in Journal of

Library and Information Science. 3 (1) 1978. pp. 23-36.

2. Kumar, P. S. G. Fundamentals of Information Science. New Delhi:

S. Chand & Co., 1998. pp. 259-260.

3. Ibid, p. 259-260

4. Chandrakumaran Nair, M. Role of Internet in the dissemination of

health information in India: Facilities. systems and services in Kelpro

Bulletin. 4(1) & (2) 2000. pp. 17-28.

5. Kumar, P. S. G.

259-260.

Fundamentals of Information Science. op.cit., pp. )

6. MEDLINE. 25 Feb. 2001. www.ncbLnlm.nih.gov I entrenz

7 .. Brochure on EMBASE. New York: Elsevier Science, 1998.

8. Ibid.

9. Chandrakumaran Nair, M. Role of Internet in the dissemination of

health information in India: Facilities. systems and servic~s. op.cit .. p. 22.

10. Nagar, B. R. et.a/. Surfing for Indian information on the Internet: A

case study in Annals of Library Science and Documentation 47 (2). 2000. pp.

53-62.

11. Humayoon Kabir S. World Wide Web Perspective for Information

Services in Indian Journal of Information Library & Society 12 (2) 1999. pp.

15-36.

12. Ramesh, D Band Sahu, J R. Use of digital libraries avilable on

national and international networks- its status and relevance ill Digital

libraries: Dynamic storehouse of digitized information ed. by M N Malward

et.a!. New Delhi: New Age International,1996. pp. 140-149.

13. Usha Mujoo-Munshi. Information Superhighway- Indian Scenario with

special reference to content creation in Journal of Library and Information

Science 24(1) 1999. pp. 17-37.

14. Nagar, B. R. et.a/. Surfing for Indian information on the Internet: A

case study. op.cit.. pp. 56-59.

15. Manoj Kumar Sinha and Kishore Satpathy. Library and Information

Networks in India: An appraisal in Kelpro Bulletin 1(2) 1988. p. 64.

16. Ramesh, D. B. and Sahu, J. R. Use of digital libraries available on

national and international networks- its status and relevance. op.cit.. p. 145.

1f\f\

17. Ibid. p. 146.

18. Ibid, p. 146.

19. Kawatra, P. S. 2000 plus Library and information systems in the

twenty-first century. New Delhi: Crest Publishing House, 2000. p. 16.

20. Ibid, pp. 16-17.

21. Kawatra, P. S. Fundamentals of documentation. New Delhi: Sterling

PUblishers. 1989. p. 34.

22. Kawatra, P. S. 2000 plus Library and information systems in the

twenty-first century. op.cit., pp. 17-18.

23. Kawatra, P. S.

24. Ibid, DD. 36-37.

Fundamentals of documentation. op.cit., p. 36.

25. Kawatra, P. S. 2000 plus Library and information systems in the

twenty-first century. op.cit .. p. 19.

26. Ibid, pp. 19-20.

27. Ibid, pp. 21-22.

1(,7

28. Ibid, p. 22.

29. Biotechnology Information System (BTIS): A Report in Information Today

& Tomorrow, 16 (2),1997. pp. 13-14.

30. Environmental Information system (ENVIS): A Report in Information

Today and Tomorrow. 16 (2). 1997. pp. 15-18.

31. Usha Mujoo-Munshi. Information Superhighway- Indian Scenario with

sDecial reference to content creation. oD.cit .. D. 22.. . ..

32. Iyer, V. K. Library Information Network Management. New Delhi:

Common wealth Publishers.1999. pp.151-152.

33. Ibid, p. 152.

34. Ramesh, D. B. and Sahu, J. R. Use of digital libraries available on

national and international networks- its status and relevance. op.cit., p. 141.

35. Iyer, V. K. Library Information Network Management. op.cit., p.155.

36. Ramesh, D. B. and Sahu, J. R. Use of digital libraries available on

national and international networks- its status and relevance. op.cit .. p. 142.

37. Iyer, V. K.. Library Information Network Management. op.cit., p. 154.

38. Ramesh, D. B. and Sahu, J. R. Use of digital libraries available on

national and international networks- its status and relevance. op.cit., p. 142.

39. Ibid, p. 143.

40. Manoj· Kumar Sinha and Kishore Satpathy.

Networks in India: An appraisal. op.cit.. pp. 66-67.

Library and Information

41. Mitra, A. C. Calcutta Library Network Inaugurated in NISSAT

Newsletter No.1, 1994. pp. 3-7.

42. Ramesh, D. B. and Sahu, J. R. Use of digital libraries available on

national and international networks- its status and relevance. op.cit.. p. 143.

43. Iyer, V. K. Library Information Network Management. op.cit., p. 160.

44. Bombay Library N.etwork Commissioned in NISSAT Newsletter No.1, 1993.

pp. 3-4.

45: Ramesh, D. B. and Sahu, J. R. Use of digital libraries available on

national and international networks- its status and relevance. op.cit.. p. 144.

I/'iQ