it : what the decade nissat · earlier shri h.k. kaul. convener delnet and librarian, india...

NISSATNEWSLETTER

Vol. 11 No. 1 Jan.-Mar. 1932

Editorial Committee

Dr A. LahiriJt. Adviser (NISSAT)Dept. of Scientific & Industrial ResearchNew Delhi-110016.

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

Shri B.C. 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 SystemMANAGE, NIRD Campus, Hyderabad-500030

Shri R.N. ShacmaSociety for Information Sciencec/o PID, 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 theofficial organ of NISSAT, and Is aimed at disseminat-ing information concerning programmes, activitiesand achievements of NISSAT as also of the variouscentres functioning under it. Additionally, it attemptsto project major developments in the field of informa-tion science at national and international levels.

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

IT : What the DecadePortends

It is safe to predict that the information technologyrevolution would continue through this decade also.At the component or building-block level, 256 megabitchip is likely to be the state-of-the-art in semi-conductormemory compared to one megabit of today; gigabit chipswill be under development. Thousands of micro-processors each with above 100 million transistors,working in parallel will help reach a speed that is beyondcomprehension of old generation computer users.

In respect of information technologies at system/product level, the developments are likely to be lessspectacular. Voice recognition systems replacing thepresent day dictating facilities to a large extent, would bea major market entry. The application of optical storagetechnologies may proliferate but it would co-exist withconventional magnetic storage. CD-ROMs, WORMs,erasable optical disks, especially the multimedia varieties(combining text, graphics, video and audio will developniche markets. Full text journals and monographs will becommonly available on-line or on optical disks. In parallelwith electronic publishing that would progressivelyreplace paper prints, voice publishing (materials beingread out) would be significant especially for non-technicaltext. In keeping with the phenomenal increase in thespeed of information handling and in storage capacities,the data transmission rate may reach 1 - 1 0 gigabit persecond compared to 64 kilobit per second of today. Fibreoptics would be most extensively used. In entertainmentelectronics, High Definition Colour Television which hasjust entered the market in Japan (at a price which hasbaffled market watchers) would be most entertaining.

A vast majority of trie population especially those indeveloping countries have not yet reaped the benefitsfrom the rapid advances in technology. Perhaps in thisdecade, the information technology revolution will reachthe "consolidation phase". While online and offlinedatabase services will be increasingly used byprofessionals, business and industries, and services liketravel and tourism, banking etc., public databanks andvideotex services for'daily use information (like thoseprovided by the French Minitel system) may be availablein all major cities. Electronic mail tele-conferencing withgraphics, audio and video images will be a generallyaccepted method of interaction. Similarly the trend in theuse of computers at home and conduct of office workfrom remote home locations will gain momentum. Whilerobotics will make industrial life easy, artificial intelligenceinterfaces will make the information service more user-friendly. In sum, the trend suggests that the fruits ofrevolution wit! pass from elitist to populist regime.

The question now is where would India stand? Atthe component level, India is way behind and it isunlikely that the gap would ever be bridged. For systemsor product design, Indians (resident or otherwise) havedemonstrated capabilities. However, India could cash inon her enormous skills and productive (and hitherto non-productive) educated population in generating informationservices. During the Eighth Five Year Plan, the informa-tion programmes must,therefore, be designed accordingly.

— A. Lahiri

NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 1 , 1992

NISSAT

NEWSLETTER

Vol. 11 No. 1 Jan.- Mar. 1992

CONTENTS

IT : What the Decade Portends 1

Indo-British Meet: Focus on Library Networking 3

UNESCO/NISSAT/NISTADS Regional Workshop on New Information Technologies:Machine Translation 7

XI SIS Annual Convention: Current Trends in Information Technology Surveyed 9

IT Applications to LIS : NCSI Training Course Bangalore 13

Use of Scientific and Technical Secondary Periodicals in Research and Academic Libraries 15

The Problem of Document Supply : A Look at Indian Sources and NLA-ASTINFO Facility 18

NISSAT-INSDOC Courses on Computer Application to Library and information Activities 1992-93 23

News and Events 25


Indo-British Meet: Focuson Library Networking

The library networking drive in India whichowes its inception to the sustained efforts inrecent years of National Information System forScience and Technology (NISSAT) of theDepartment of Scientific and Industrial Research,Govt. of India received fresh impetus with theconvening last month (Jan. 14-15) of Indo-BritishMeet on the subject. Jointly organized at theIndia International Centre by DELNET (Network ofDelhi Libraries), the British Council Division of theBritish High Commission in India and NiSSAT, thetwo-day Meet was attended by 45 selectedparticipants from all over India. These includedtwo experts from Britain invited by the BritishCouncil Division. Librarians, information scientistsand computer and telecom specialists constitutedthe Indian contingent.

Inauguration

Inaugurating the conference, India's Ministerof Stale for Communications, Shri Rajesh Pilotobserved that the information, stored in thelibraries should move to the users. Librarynetworks would help in this task and would enrichthe knowledge available at the educational, serviceand industry points in urban and rural areas.

Library networks would enrich the knowledgeavailable at educational, service and Industry

points in unban and rural areas— Shrl Rajesh Pilot

Mr Robert Arbuthnott, Minister, Britisii HighCommission touched upon the developments incommunication networks in the U.K. and theirapplication to library networks. This experiencemay help India in promoting the spread ofnetworks using a variety of skills and softwareavailable to India's library and informationcommunity.

At the Inaugural Function ( / ( o r ) Mr H.K. Kaul, Convener DELNET, Mr John Smith, NationalProject Officer, U.K. Office for Library Networks, Mr A. Madhavan, Director, India International

Centre, Shri Rajesh Pilot, Union Minister of Communications and Mr Robert Arbuthnott, Ministerfor British Council Division, British High Commission.


Earlier Shri H.K. Kaul. Convener DELNET andLibrarian, India International Centre, gave aresume of DELNET activities while welcoming thedistinguished gathering. Shri A. MadhavanDirector, India International Centre, who presidedover the meeting, made a few Introductoryremarks.

The deliberations of the two-day meet wereconducted in six technical sessions. These dealtwith:

1 . Essential requirements of library networks;

2. Resources needed in terms of finance,human skills, service supports,development potentials, computerfacilities, network communication design,internal and external protocols of networkusage, etc., CALIBNET developments.

3. Software resources developed for use inComputer Communication networks forlibrary systems and services.

4. Bibliographic standards needed forComputer Communication in relation tolibrary networks such as CCF, UK-MARC,UNI-MARC and other internationalstandards available for bibliographicrecord format.

5. Varieties of Communication Protocols inthe form of software and hardwaredevelopments.

6. Need for developing autonomic networksin centres such as DELNET andCALIBNET with financial support ofNISSAT.

Recommendations

The deliberations at the technical sessionsand the discussions that followed led to theformulation of the following recommendationsaimed at promoting library networking.

I Essentials of Library Networking

Considering that resource-sharing of library4 collections and services has become a necessity

due to economic and managerial constraints andnoting that modern communication networktechnology is becoming cost-effective andoperational at national level in India, it isrecommended that:

An integrated management structure beestablished in each metropolitan network in Indiaand the following services be promoted:

1. Create and maintain a computer-basedshared catalogue and maintain centralauthority records.

2. Promote CAS and SDI services inlibraries.

3. Create partial databases of externalresources.

4. Maintain an user interface applicationsoftware coupled with hardware andcommunication equipment.

5. Promote the standardisation of records.

6. Establish a well structured professionalmanpower facilities to maintain thenetwork centre.

NISSAT should be able to mobilise thefinancial resources needed for managing theirnetwork on a continuing basis with partial recoveryof the fund from service charges.

II Communication Infrastructure

Noting that resource-sharing is acommunication intensive process, it isrecommended that the departments andinstitutions like Department of Electronics,Department of Communication, NationalInformatics Centre and NISSAT should:

1. Arrange effective E-mail communicationbetween the libraries and networks withinthe country at subsidised rates;

2. Provide facilities to international vendors inIndia and allow specialised libraries tohave access to world databases throughthem at subsidised rates.

3. Arrange coordination in functional activitiesand services by;

a) Enforcing that uniform standards beadopted and maintained for creation ofdatabases;

b) Arranging access to externaldatabases, and if necessary,downloading of the required databases;

NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 1 . 1992

c) Creating a system by which networkscan share databases on acceptableterms;

d) Developing databases on specialisedthemes that are updated periodicallyfor use by specialist clientele in thecountry;

e) Promoting the marketing of networkproducts, and financial self sufficiencyfor network operations.

Ill Network Products and Services

Considering that metropolitan library networksshould develop a variety of products and servicesfor benefit of its clientele, it is recommended that:

In a network the preferences may be given to:

a) Shared cataloguing;

b) Preparation of union catalogues;

c) Switching over to on-line cataloguing asrapidly as feasible;

d) Provide for full screen editing;

e) Preparation of the list of latest additions;

f) Retrospective conversions;

g) Maintenance of authority files; and

h) Approved standards for the input of Indianmaterials.

Further, it may be added that production ofcatalogue for exchange etc., could be confined inthe beginning to magnetic floppies and later forcommercial purposes extended to:

a) Card form;

b) Book form;

c) Magnetic tapes;

d} Optical discs; and

e) Microfiche.

For this purpose, the networks should steadilybe augmented with the following communicationfacilities in a phased manner

a) Tele-facsimile;

b) Tele-conferencing;

c) Offering of databases in CD-ROM;

d) Simple user interface (OPAC);

e) Availability of special display formats fordifferent types of libraries, and users;

f) Community information and library networknews.

IV Support for Library Operation and Services

Recognising that metropolitan library networksare going to demand exacting informationprocessing and performance, it is recommendedthat:

a) Circulation module should provide lor fullyon-line automated services with backupon-line charging and discharging facilitieswith managerial controls for the same.

b) Acquisition module should provide for fullyon-line ordering, stock taking and servicingfor further processing of documents.

c) Serials control module for on-lineregistration, reminders, union-catalogueservices, updating of the same, effectivedocument supply services, besidesadministrative approaches to serial control.

V Governance and Management

In order to promote each metropolitan networkas a stable body for effective governance, itshould:

i) be registered as a separate body with thefinancial support of NISSAT and arepresentative of NISSAT permanently onits Governing Board;

ii) function for some years under thesupervision of a host institution; and

iii) develop close bonds between thenetworking libraries. It is important that theparticipating libraries adhere to thememorandums of understanding that caterto their mutual interests and are based onstraightforward and clear-cut principles.


Further, they have to be flexible enough tobe updated and adjusted to changinglibrary environments. It is, therefore,recommended that:

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOD)should take into account:

1. Copyright and security requirements;

2. Proprietary rights;

3. Licenses granted to the participatinglibraries by the networks;

4. The modes of acquiring equipment by theparticipating libraries;

5. Preparation of an operating manual;

6. Amount of registration fee and annual feeto be paid by participating library;

7. Fee to be fixed for extra-use over andabove that basically outlined;

8. Compensation to be paid to a big librarywhich is mostly offering its materials andnot receiving much in return;

9. Maintenance and alterations;

10. Warranty;

1 1 . Termination of agreements;

12. Indemnity, disputes, etc.

VI Relation Between ERNET and JANET forAcademic Transactions

Considering with interest the usefuldevelopments that have taken place in respect oflibrary networking and also the end-users inter-mediation in academic and research programmes

and also considering that the ERNET programmeof India, which is rapidly connecting many of theeducational institutions and also SIRNETpromoted by INSDOC for E-mail and otherelectronic transmission, it is recommended that:

NISSAT in collaboration with otherorganizations should actively promote and providethe necessary infrastructure to the libraries allover India, to develop a culture to use the E-mailtransactions, that would ultimately improveresponse time nationally and internationally. It isalso recommended that the library and informationprofessionals and academicians in the programmeshould make efforts in developing attitudes helpfulto quick responses to requests through E-mail intheir own institutions.

VII Training and Education In ElectronicCommunications Network

Considering the variety of knowledge andskills needed for effective and efficient use ofelectronic communication facilities for library andinformation purposes, it is recommended that,

NISSAT in collaboration with otherorganisations should promote and organise short-term courses for library and informationprofessionals on the E-mail, videotex! and othernetwork facilities available in India, and in view ofonset of electronic revolution in communication itis recommended that the library and informationscience schools in India should develop curricula,and teaching network facilities as a specialisedcourse. NISSAT should provide infrastructure on aselective basis to some library schools and offercurricula modules for different types of courses inlibrary automation and networking.

The meeting ended with a vote of thanksproposed by Dr A. Lahiri, Jt Adviser, NISSAT.


UNESCO/NiSSAT/NISTADSRegional Workshop on

New InformationTechnologies: Machine

TranslationThe National institute of Science, Technology

and Development Studies (NISTADS) organisedthe Regional Workshop on New InformationTechnologies; Machine Translation with Supportfrom United Nations Educational, Scientific &Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and NationalInformation System for Science & Technology(NISSAT).

The New Delhi Workshop (16-20 Dec. 1991)was held in pursuance of the recommendation ofthe Regional Network for the Exchange ofInformation and Experiences in South-East Asiaand the Pacific (ASTINFO).

The main objective of the regional workshopwas to share information on

• Status of machine translation in ASTINFOmember countries

• Basic concept of translation system• Software for machine translation• Machine translation processes• Dictionary construction• Integrated machine translation system

The workshop also, attempted to identify

• Nature and type machine translationsystem needed for the countries of theregion,

• R S D projects in the area of machinetranslation and suggest mechanism forundertaking coordinated projects.

There were altogether 29 participants fromASTINFO countries namely, Bangladesh, India,Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal and Vietnam, andGermany.

The Workshop was inaugurated by Dr AshokJain, Director, NISTADS, New Delhi.

In the technical schedule, 15 papers were

presented and discussed. Demonstration ofsoftware was organized and future action planwas considered.

Dr Ashok Jain acted as the Coordinator andMr A. Wahid as the Secretary for the Workshop.

The Chairmen for the Technical Sessionswere: Prof. R.M.K. Slnha (NT Kanpur, India), DrThomas Schneider (Siemens Nixdorf informationSystems, Germany), Dr A.K.M. Ahsanullah(BANSDOC, Dhaka, Bangladesh), Ms RosaVidyavan (Jakarta, Indonesia), Mr B.D. Shreshtha(Kathmandu, Nepal). Dr S Raman (IIT Madras,India), Dr Om Vikas (DoE, India) and Dr Nguyenthee Thu (Hanoi, Vietnam).

Mrs S. Ravindran (NISSAT) proposed a heartyvote of thanks at the conclusion of the Workshop.

Recommendations

The Recommendations emerging from thediscussions at the Workshop related to machinetranslation, terminology and training. These wereexpected to improve flow of information andfacilitate technology transfer at the internationallevel. These included the following:

1. Technical collaborations should beestablished in the area of machinetranslation among member countries ofASTINFO. Development of tools andcomponents to support machine translationand technology transfer in this area shouldbe undertaken with manpower training asa major component.

To reduce costs and development time,existing tools may be used, wherevernecessary and possible. A Study Group 7may be formed to evaluate the suitabilityof existing systems.

2. Computational Linguistics is an emergingand interdisciplinary area, and a pre-


REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON'EW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES;

MACHINE TRANSLATIONS"- V DELHI <

Delegates from Bangladesh, Germany, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal and Vietnam attended theMT Workshop

8

requisite for machine translation. Hence,educational programmes in computationallinguistics should be supported byUNESCO in this region.

3. UNESCO should sponsor translation- 6.related studies. These studies maytypically include identification of translationneeds based on population segments,subject-wise breakup, source and targetlanguage directions, etc. The studiesshould include national as well as regionalperspectives.

4. It is important to evolve a commonelectronic dictionary format for applicationsin computational linguistics, such asmachine translation. Therefore, a workshopof experts should be organized urgently inthis region by UNESCO to standardize theformat of electronic dictionaries.

5. UNESCO should help in acquiring thesets of terminology currently available inthe databases in Europe, America and 9-Asia. This would improve the S & Tinformation accessibility from non-native sources.

7.

8.

National agencies may utilize theresources of these terminology databasesin the development of terminology in thenational languages.

The classification system and the entryformats should be suitably adoptedfrom terminology databases alreadyoperational in Europe, America and Asiato facilitate the exchange of terminologicalinformation.

Translators should be encouraged withsuitable incentives by member countries tocontribute terminological information toterminology databases.

UNESCO should sponsor a study groupfrom member countries to periodicallyreview the classification systems and entryformats, and to coordinate the updatescoming from different countries in order toensure compatibility.

For exchange of information, standardssuch as SGML and ODA should beevolved for use by ASTINFO membercountries.


XI SIS Annual Convention:Current Trends in

Information TechnologySurveyed

The National Chemical Laboratory, Punehosted the Eleventh Annual Convention andConference of the Society For Information Scienceduring 20-22 Jan. 1992. Current trends ininformation technology and their impact on theinformation science in India constituted the themeof tne three-day conference which mainly centredround database creation, uniformity of formats,users' requirements, impact of DTP technology,data on-line or off-line, networking of nationalservices and marketing strategies.

Over 85 information and library scienceprofessionals, scientists and technologistssurveyed the current world information scenarioand considered the impact of developments on thehome front. The discussions, spread over fivetechnical sessions, culminated in a set ofrecommendations aimed at faster and integratedscientific development of the country through anetwork of state-of-the-art information centres andservices. Twenty-four papers were presented atthese technical sessions.

Inauguration

The Chief Guest, Professor Arun Nigavekar,Director, Education Media Research Centre(EMRC), University of Poona while delivering hisinaugural address traced the changes which hadtaken place in information technology in the pastfour decades and challenges that are still to bemet. He suggested that the SIS should take anassertive step to create awareness of the fastmoving changes and insist on setting up of anAdvisory Panel on Information Technology at the

. highest level to plan for future frends. He was ofthe opinion that the SIS should prepare a papersuggesting ways and means of setting up ofinformation networks in the country, with uniformityin standards for transfer of data compatible tosystems already in existence at other centres andfor the preparation of suitable software, wherevernecessary. Training courses may have to be alsoundertaken by the Society for providing adequatemanpower to tackle the enormous task ahead.

Inaugural Address: Prof. Arun Nigavekar

Shrl N. Vtttal, Secretary DOE at the ValedictoryFunction

Only the future course of action might reveal whatkind of society would be emerging ultimately,whether a post-industrial society, an informationsociety or a technotronic society. At the time whenthe world is heading for change, India could notremain a silent spectator, it was, therefore, hightime we recognised this fact and took necessarysteps to face the situation.

Dr Shiv Ram, Deputy Director, NCL presidedover the inaugural session.


10

Earlier SIS President S. Nagarajan welcomedthe distinguished gathering and gave a briefresume of the current trends in informationtechnology in India and stressed the need foroptimum utilization of resources available in thecountry. He outlined measures to identify theexisting resources, build up the infrastructure andtrain the required manpower to cope with thechallenges posed by the emerging trends in IT.

Fellowships

The Chief Guest gave away the Awards ofSIS and Young Information Scientists for 1991 tothe following recipients.

1. Prof. T. Vlswanathan, Director, INSDOC,New Delhi was conferred the Fellowship ofthe Society for 1991 for his outstandingcontribution in creating BibliographicDatabases at INSDOC and setting up otSIRNET at 1 4 National Laboratories of CSIR.

2. Dr Ramesh Dutt Sharma, Chief Editor(Hindi), ICAR, New Delhi was conferred theFellowship of the Society for 1991 for hisoutstanding contribution to agriculturalinformation in Hindi through mass media likeDoordarshan and All India Radio and for hisexcellent editing and publication of popularscience periodicals in Hindi for disseminatingagricultural information among rural people.

The Young Information Scientists Award,

SIS President S. Nagarajan welcomes thedelegates

The Award Winners: (from top) FellowshipDr R.D. Sharma, Chief Editor (Hindi) ICAR;Young Scientist's Award, Shri N.V. Sathya-

narayana (Informatics India, Bangalore)and Smt Rekha Mlttal, INSDOC (CSIR).

NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 1, 1992

instituted in 1989 in memory of late Shri A.S.Raizada, Founder Secretary of the Society, wasgiven to:

1. Shrl N.V. Sathyanarayana, President,Informatics (India) Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore, for hiscontribution to information technology in Indiaby installing CD-ROM Technology for thebenefit of R & D workers and for setting uplinkages with International databases(DIALOG) through on-line.

2. Smt. Rekha Mlttal for her contribution insetting up on-line databases for MAPA(Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Abstracts)using the data available at PID (CSIR).

Shri P.O. Bose, Secretary, SIS proposed avote of thanks.

Open Session

At the open session, held after theinauguration Or, Narendra K. Sehgal, Director,NCSTC, DST, New Delhi and a recipient of theKalinga Award for 1991 gave an illustrated talk onthe role of NCSTC in the communication of S & Tto the masses. He outlined the future activities ofthe Council in taking out Vigyan Yatras andbringing out newsletters in Hindi and otherregional languages.

Technical Sessions

The Technical Sessions which followed dealtwith topics detailed as under:

Session I: Database creation, componentsrequired, uniformity of formats, costs involved.Chairman — Prof. S.G. Mahajan, Head, Libraryand Information Science Dept, University ofPoona.

Session II: Users' requirements, servicesoffered, impact of DTP, use of computeriseddatabases, policy outlines. Chairman —Shri I. R.Kumar, Dy. Manager Informatics, NRDC, NewDelhi.

Session III: Data on-line and off-line telecomoperations involved. Fees charged. Chairman —Prof R.G. Gupta, Dean, School of ComputerScience, JNU, New Delhi.

Session IV: Networking of national services,problems and prospects. Chairman— Shri P.C

Bose.ProjectLeader, MANAGE, NIRD, Hyderabad.

Session V: Marketing strategies, publicity ofproducts offered, need for restructuring services tomeet demands. Chairman—Shri DN Jetly,Regional Manager, ESPL, Bombay. Main Speaker:Shri Veer Sagar, Chief Executive, DCM DataProducts.

Recommendations

Discussions at the technical sessionsculminated in a set of recommendations formulatedat a special session held under the Chairmanshipof Dr S. Shiv Ram; S/Shri R.S. Singh (HeadNICHEM, NCL and Local Convener for theConvention) and Kuldip Chand, Vice-President,SIS were the Co-Chairmen.

Some of the main recommendations were:

1. A comprehensive paper should beprepared on the information policy of thecountry for consideration by the UnionGovernment. An Information TechnologyAdvisory Panel may be constituted toassist the Cabinet as in other advancedcountries.

2. For an integrated scientific development ofthe country, information centres in variousdisciplines (other than the existing NISSATcentres) should be identified.

3. The Govt. of India should provide adequateincentives for the proper growth anddevelopment of indigenous manufacture ofI.T. software and hardware both fordomestic and export markets. Customsduty for the import of both software andhardware components of I.T. should bereduced.

4. To improve the quality of life of the ruralmasses and to take full advantage of thetechnologies developed lor meeting thechallenges of the 21st century in respectof fuel, food and fibre, a well organisedrural technical network providing for apackage of services for the benefit of therural population and for backward areas 1 1should be developed.

5. Well designed computer education andinformation technology courses shouldbecome an integral part of the curricula of


1 2

(he library and information scienceeducation in India at all levels includingin-service training ot the existingprofessionals.

6. Telecommunication facilities need to bestrengthened significantly for propergrowth, development and functioning ofon-line services and various networks.

7. A committee may be set up for thestandardization of formats for the creation,maintenance and use of the computerizeddatabases. A separate workshop may beorganised on the subject at the earliest.

8. A National Commission for L1S,with representatives of all concernedprofessionals should be set up by theGovt. to address itself Ihe requirementsand problems of National Library andInformation Science Networks in India. TheCommission should be asked to submit itsreport within a specified time limit.

9. Government should allocate adequatefunds lo the professionals societies toorganise, train and promote networkingculture in India.

fO. Financial & infrastructural support andfacilities may be provided to professionalsocieties in the field of IT. for organisingand conducting seminars, workshopssymposia and training courses for humanresource development.

1 1 . The Indian Copyright Act, 1958 requires tobe modified suitably to protect theinterests of the authors and producers of

original documents through variouselectronic media.

It was resolved that these recommendationsbe forwarded to the appropriate authorities forimplementation.

Concluding Session

At the concluding session of the Society,which was chaired by Dr R.A. Mashelkar, Director,NCL, Shri N. Vittal, Secretary, Deptt. of Electronics;Govt- of India, addressed the participants. Heoutlined measures to face the impact of informationtechnology in the country. He was of the opinionthat by the end of 1993 latest information aboutthe global developments in science andtechnology would be available in the researchinstitutions of India through the efforts of DOE. Forthis he had proposed to the Planning Commissionthat every Ministry should allocate two per cent ofits budget for the development of informationtechnology and its applications in the country. Healso referred to some success in the country inthe application of information technology likeintroduction of E-Mail by the Postal Department.Dr R.A. Mashelkar said that to make country selfreliant data on indigenous technology, processesand products should be built up and industryshould be made aware of the same.

In his vote of thanks, the Secretary, SIS,requested the DOE and other Govt. agencies toextend full support to the activities of the Societyin promoting information technology in the country.hfe expressed deep gratitude of the Society to theDirector, NCL, the Local Convener, Shri R.S. Singhand his colleagues for the elaborate and excellentarrangements made for the conference whichmade it a memorable occasion.


IT Applications to LIS :NCSI Training Course

Bangalore

The National Centre for Science Information(NCSI) set up at the Indian Institute of Science,Bangalore has resumed conducting the one-yeartraining course to prepare library and informationprofessionals with adequate knowledge ofcomputers and information technology applications.The course objectives are:

i) To provide the students with fullcomprehension and appreciation ofapplications of information technology tolibrary and information services, and

ii) To impart theoretical and practicalknowledge in understanding, selecting,designing and utilising the informationtechnologies for effective dissemination oflibrary and information services.

The Centre

The Centre, which is fully funded by UGC wasset up at HSc, Bangalore to:

1 . Create Current Awareness Service amongscientists working in Indian Universities/Colleges by providing an authentic andup-to-date abstracting services in theareas of Physics, Biological Sciences,Chemistry, Mathematics and EarthSciences.

2. Provide to the users, on request,photocopies of current papers.

3. Educate the users, in generating queriesfor their needs, for an optimal utilisation ofthe information services.

The Current Awareness Service to theacademic community is given by way of SelectiveDissemination of Information (SDI) based on theappropriate abstracting/indexing periodicalspublished in computer readable form on magnetictapes, At present NCSI has a 32-bit 80386-basedmini computer system running on UNIX operatingsystem for processing the database tapes. An

IBM-PC LAN with 4 microcomputers as the nodesis also available at the Centre. The scope of theinformation services has recently been enhancedby providing Retrospective Search Services alsoAn on-line search facility on DIALOG informationServices has been commissioned, besidesacquiring a CD-ROM Work Station along withselected databases for the purpose.

Fifth Training Course 1992-93

Admissions to NCSI's fifth one-year TrainingCourse in 'Information Technology Applications toL & I Services' for the academic year 1992-93 willtake place around July 1992.

The minimum qualifications for admission tothe course are:

A Master's degree in Library and informationScience/Associateship in Information Science fromDRTC/INSDOC, with a Bachelor's Degree inScience,

ORA Master's Degree in any branch of Science

with a Bachelor's Degree in Library Science.

A stipend of Rs. 1,2007- per month tenable forall the 12 months of the training programme, isgiven to all the candidates who are not sponsored/deputed by any institution Total number of seatsavailable is six, out of which two are reserved forcandidates belonging to SC/ST category. Theadmissions are based on a wrilten lest and aninterview to be held at the Indian Institute ofScience.

The training programme includes class roomlectures, invited lectures, demonstrations, self-learning exercises, and course assignments. Animportant feature of the programme is that thetrainees will receive hands-on training throughparticipation in all the relevant activities of NCSI atthe appropriate periods during the course.

A summary of this year's course content isgiven below:

13

NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO 1 , 1992

1 . Introduction to computer concepts.

2. Information Technology and S & TInformation Handling.

3. Computer Organisation,

4. Programming and data structures throughPASCAL.

5. MIS & Database Management Systems.

6. IT Applications-1: Use of InlormationSystems & Databases.

Bibliographic Record Formats.Searching Bibliographic Systems.CD-ROM Databases.Computerised Catalogues —CDS/ISISOn-line Searching.Current Awareness and S.D.I. Systems.Using Electronic Mail Systems.

7. Information Processing and Retrieval.

8. Expert Systems and Information Retrieval.

9. Library Automation.

10. IT Applications-ll: Creation of BibliographicDatabase/Library Catalogues.Using software package—dBASE,

UNIFY and CDS/ISIS.Using a programming language (Pascal

orC)

1 1 . Data Communications lor Library &Information Services.

12. Programming in 'C'.

However, interested institutions and individualscan write for further information to: The Chairman,National Centre for Science Information, IndianInstitute of Science, Bangalore-560 012.

Form IV(See Rule 8)

1 . Place of publication2. Periodicity of its publication3. Printer's Name

Whether citizen of India?Address

4. Publisher's Name

Whether citizen of IndiaAddress

5. Editor's NameWh'ether citizen of India?Address

Names and addresses of theindividuals who own thenewspaper and partners orshare holders holding more than oneper cent of the total capital

New DelhiQuarterlyDr A. LahiriYesTechnology Bhawan, New Mehrauli Road,New Delhi-110016Dr A. Lahiri, Jt. Adviser, Department of Scientific andIndustrial Research, Govt. of IndiaYesAs above in (3)Ram D, TanejaYesSociety for Information Science, PID Building, Hillside Road,New Delhi-110 012

Dr A. LahiriDepartment of Scientific and Industrial Research,Technology Bhawan,New Mehrauli Road, New Delh i -110 016

14I, Dr A. Lahiri hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best ol my knowledgeand belief.

March 1992 Sd/- A. LahiriSignature of Publisher

NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO 1 . 1992

Use of Scientific andTechnical Secondary

Periodicals in Researchand Academic Libraries inDelhi — Summary Report

The Institute of Social Analysis andCommunication, New Delhi, recently conducteda study sponsored by the Department ofScientific and industrial Research on the useof abstracting/indexing periodicals In selectedDelhi libraries. It has just submitted the reportentitled "A pilot study on the use of scientificand technical secondary periodicals Inresearch and academic libraries In Delhi". Thefollowing is a brief resume of the findings ofthis study. — Ed.

1 . Study Sample and Data

The data for the study were obtained througha sample survey in 9 selected institutions with atotal sample size of 267 scientists. The selectedinstitutions were: All India Institute of MedicalSciences (AllMS); Central Road Research Institute(CRRI); Delhi University (DU); Indian AgriculturalResearch Institute (IARI); Indian Institute ofTechnology (NT); Jamia Millia Islamia (JMl);Jawaharla! Nehru University (JNU); NationalPhysical Laboratory (NPL); and Vallabhai PatelChest Institute (VPCI). The broad subject-wisedistribution of the sample was as fol lows:Agricultural Science (12.77%); Chemistry(12 .05%) ; Engineering (9.76%); Life Sciences(29.40%); Medicine (11.40%).

Data were collected simultaneously fromscient ists and l ibrarians, through separatequestionnaires, and also through a series ofobservations in each library.

2. How Active the Scientists Are

To assess how active the scientists in thesample are and to get some details of theirinformation behaviour, a number of questionswere asked It was found that 48% of them hadpublished papers in 1990 and 1991 and about14% had published in 1989 or earlier. It was also

observed that scientists working in researchinstitutions, such as CRRI and NPL, had a slightlyhigher publication rate than their counterparts inacademic-cum-research institutions.

3. Where the Contributions were Abstracted/Indexed

When asked where they saw their recentpapers abstracted/indexed, the titles mentionedfrequently were; Current Contents, PhysicsAbstracts, Chemical Abstracts, Index Medicus,Biological Abstracts. A number of other titles werealso mentioned, most of them once only. Thiswas, in a way, an indirect method of finding outthe most used titles.

4. Most Preferred Abstracting/IndexingPeriodicalsOn the basis of response to a direct question

on the preferred abstracting/indexing periodicals,a list of most preferred titles was drawn up. Aseach respondent was asked to mention four titles,the list was prepared after giving 'preferenceweight' to each title. The first five titles in the listget very high scores, as all of them are beingused by scientists in a number of institutions. The

/titles are; Current Contents, Physics Abstracts.Biological Abstracts, Index Medicus, and ChemicalAbstracts. It will be observed that the same fivetitles reappear again, with slight change in theirsequence. The popularity of the Current Contents(all series taken together) is quite obvious. Notonly it has the highest score but it is beingpreferred in 8 institutions, out of 9 in the sample.Physics Abstracts, although obtained the secondhighest score, is being preferred in 4 institutionsonly. Chemical Abstracts, although came in thefifth position in terms of total score, is !he only title 1 5which is being used in all the nine institutions.Another notable feature of the most preferred listis the occurrence of the Science Citation Indexwithin the first ten titles.

NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO 1 . 1992

5. Use of Other Libraries

One significant finding of the study is thatscientists in all the 9 institutions have been usinga number of libraries in addition to their owninstitutional library. In AIIMS 78.94% of thescientists use 'other libraries' followed by those inJNU (77.42%) VPCI, (60%) and JMI (45.65%) andthe least by IARI scientists (17.07%). However, interms of number of other libraries used, thescientists at CRRI are obliged to use as many as1 1 , followed by those at AIIMS (10), JMI (8), JNU(7), and only 2 by VPCI respondents. Furtheranalysis of the other libraries has revealed that outof the 9 institutional libraries in the sample, 8 areinter-connected among themselves. Only thescientists/scholars of IARI do not depend on anyone of the other 8 institutional libraries. Thepattern of dependence on other libraries indicatesheavy use of some libraries. The National MedicalLibrary is being heavily used by the scientists andscholars of AIIMS and JNU. CRRI and NPLscientists use IIT library quite frequently. In factthis library is being used by the readers of asmany as 7 Institutions in the sample. The IITscientists and scholars have been found to beusing the NPL library. Scientists from 5 institutionshave mentioned the use of the National ScienceLibrary at INSDOC.

6. Approach to Abstracting/IndexingPeriodicals

On the question of approach to abstracting/indexing periodicals, it was found that excepting inAIIMS and CRRI there is a heavy bias towardscurrent approach in the use of abstracting/indexingperiodicals. On the average, the response comesto about 73.19% for current approach, about49.62% for retrospective approach, 35,25% forchecking bibliographic details of partially knownreferences, and 12.26% for location of Englishabstracts of known papers. This tilt towardscurrent approach could be due to the combinationof indexing and abstracting periodicals in a singlecategory and also heavy use of the CurrentContents, which is used for current approach inalmost all the institutions.

7. Abstracting/Indexing Periodicals as1 6 Effective Channel for Getting Information

It is quite obvious that in a study of thisnature, one would like to find out what exactly isthe relative position of abstracting/indexingperiodicals as a 'channel' for locating relevant

documents. It was observed that mostrespondents (65.35%) consider this to be themost productive channel, closely followed by twoother channels, namely, 'Regular perusal ofcurrent literature' (83.73%) and 'Citations fromcurrent literature' (83.18%). The other lessproductive channels are: 'Personal communication/recommendation (70.64%); Library bulletins/librarystaff (49.70%); and 'By chance' (40.54%). Theabove ranking has been compared with thefindings of similar studies elsewhere and thedeviations explained.

8. Use of Advances Series Publications

It was observed that scientists in all theInstitutions have been using Advances Series(review publications) in their respective subjects, alist of 108 titles of such publications used by themhas been prepared. Some titles are being used innumber of institutions.

9. Level of Satisfaction from Abstract

It was observed that the respondents' level ofsatisfaction was quite high, as about 26% of themwere of the opinion that they got adequateinformation from abstracts and about 74% feltabstracts stimulated them to go to the full text.The latter response indicates the correct functionof an abstract.

10. Maintenance of Personal File and Scanningof Primary Periodicals

In the context of the present study,maintenance of personal file becomes relevantbecause it can be presumed that a scientist whouses abstracting/indexing periodicals regularly,especially if he has to scan them in other libraries,he would be prompted to maintain a personalfile for easy and quick reference to the mostrelevant items of his requirement. Thus, it can beconsidered as an indirect measure of the use ofabstracting/indexing periodicals. It was found thatmore than 83% of the scientists do maintainpersonal files. Wide variations in the size andcomposition of the personal files were observed.Curiously, on the average, more number ofscientists maintain either a small file of 1 to 99items or a large file of more than 400 Items. Thisis true for all the three categories of items, namelycitations, citations with abstracts, and copies ofdocuments.

Most scientists usually have a range of'favourite' journals which are scanned directly.


This range is in a way an indirect indication of ascientist's or a group of scientists' general statusof awareness in the subject field. It was revealedthat quite a good percentage (about 43.25) of thestudy sample scan 1 to 5 periodicals regularly.Strangely, about 64.71% of Delhi Universityscientists are in this range, while only 26.67% ofthe VPCI scientists face in this range. A largerpercentage (46.47) of the sample was found to bein the second range, i.e., scanning 6 to 1 0periodicals. In the next higher range of 11 andmore titles of periodicals, there were only 10.80%of the study sample, and the largest number ofthem was from the IIT.

1 1 . Need for more Abstracting/indexingPeriodicals

In response to a question whether there wasneed for additional titles of abstracting/indexingperiodicals in the group of Delhi libraries, 73% feltthere was no such need. Those who felt the needfor acquiring more titles could mention only suchtitles which are available in other libraries and theyhad to go there to consult them. In other wordsthey wanted these titles to be duplicated in theirown libraries. As can be anticipated, the list ofsuch titles included the costlier ones like theChemical Abstracts, Biological Abstracts, ExcerptaMedica, Index Medicus, etc.

12. Attitude Towards Sharing

Respondents were requested to express theirviews on a three-point scale on sharing ofabstracting/indexing periodicals with nearbyinstitutions. It was found that 22.23% of themthought that sharing will hamper their work; 12.37thought sharing will not be convenient as most ofthe titles they needed were available in their ownlibraries; but, at the same time, 69.14% of themwelcomed the idea of sharing.

13. Observation in Libraries and Librarians'Response

As has been mentioned earlier, observationswere made in all the nine institutional libraries andalso the National Medical Library at randomintervals. The titles of abstracting/Indexingperiodicals that were found to be used in theselibraries were noted and lists of titles used wereprepared for each library. Comparison of the titlesof abstracting/indexing periodicals preferred by

scientists, most frequently consulted as seenthrough observation in libraries, and consideredmost used by librarians, revealed a fair degree ofsimilarity.

From the librarians' response it was found thatout of 10 libraries (including the National MedicalLibrary), 7 had to drop subscriptions to abstracting/indexing periodicals during the last 3 years. Thenumber of such titles varied from 1 to 8 and thetotal for all of them was 20. The reason fordropping in most cases was 'lack of funds'. In twocases the reason was, those titles were not muchin use'.

It was also revealed through librarians'response that some libraries do use abstracting/indexing periodicals in the compilation ofbibliographies that are being produced fromlibraries. This is an indirect use of them so far asthe end users of information are concerned.

On the question of expectations from theproposed DELNET, the librarians were notvery specific. However, some expected 'supportfor retrospective searches, compilation ofbibliographies SD1 services, efficient documentdelivery,' etc.

14. Epilogue

The pattern of inter-dependence of libraries inthe matter of consultation of relevant abstracting/indexing periodicals, it should be emphasised, hasevolved largely through the initiative and efforts ofindividual users. There has been hardly anyinstitutional support for such large scale inter-library use.

Further it has been revealed that in someinstitutions there are some minor groups who areobliged to work in subject areas which are slightlyremoved from the main or core areas of interest ofthe respective institutions. These groups are notlikely to receive full information support from theirown institutional libraries.

When DELNET is operational, the networkauthorities will have to devise methods and designservices, besides other activities, through whichthe information needs of the above two groups 17could be fully met.

— B. Guha


The Problem ofDocument Supply : A

Look at Indian Sourcesand NLA-ASTINFO

FacilityA. Lahiri

National Information System forScience & Technology (DSIR), New Delhi

If you are looking for a document, thechances of your finding it easily and speedilymay not be very bright. There Is the questionof locating the right source to order copies,the lead time which could be as long as 1 2weeks or more, the cost involved, the meansof payment, etc., etc.

The author examines these questions Insome detail. He considers the effectiveness ofIndian sources and looks at the status of NLA-ASTINFO Facility while making some helpfulcomments and suggestions. —Ed.

In India, if a user fails to get a document fromhis parent library of libraries within the locality, heusually places an order with INSDOC, or NISSATSectoral Centres.

The NISSAT Centres which are subject-oriented (like food, drugs, leather, machine tools,textiles, chemicals, advanced ceramics etc.),prefer to confine their services to their ownspecialized collection only.

INSDOC services cover all branches ofscience & technology, but they do not have agood coverage of the core journals. It drawssupport from large resource institutions likeNational Medical Library and Indian AgriculturalResearch Institute in Delhi and its regional centresin Calcutta, Madras and Bangalore. Dependenceon residual resources means high rate ofdissatisfaction. Further, dependence on external

18 resources means extension of lead time of supply.The problem was discussed with BLDSC expertsseveral times. Their suggestion for developmentof core collection could not, however, beimplemented for want of finance.

The extent of demand for document supply onINSDOC may be inferred from Table 1 .

Table 1 Demand on INSDOC for DocumentSupply

Year Orders registered('000}

Orders supplied('000)

1982-831983-841984-851985-861986-871987-881988-891989-90

242425181613N.A8

232424161312N.A7

(Source : Annual Reports of INSDOC)

An analysis of orders executed by subject,client, procurement source and lead time of supplyis given in Annexure-I.

Better inter-library cooperation at local leveland libraries' own initiatives in procurement ofdocuments using the union catalogue would partlyexplain the decline in orders received by INSDOC.Further, besides INSDOC, several organisationslike the NISSAT centres and National Centre forScience Information now offer the service.

Location Tools

INSDOC has been responsible for preparationof the union catalogue so far as scientific serialsare concerned. NISSAT had provided the requiredsupport for expediting the compilation. The activityhas been going on since 1970s and several

NISSAT NEWSLETTER NO, 1 , 1992

revisions and sub-sets on geographic basis havebeen brought out. The last edition covers:

LibrariesTotal titlesCurrent titles

80035,00018,000

With NISSAT support once again, INSDOC ismaking efforts:

— to keep the databases updated;

— to convert them (or on-line search;

— to bring out subsets on geographic basisand on narrow subjects.

The National Social Science DocumentationCentre intends to cover the social scienceperiodicals through a regionwise approach. TheDelhi catalogue which has already been publishedcovers:

LibrariesTitles

687,000

The other large catalogue is the (unpublished)catalogue prepared by the Defence ScientificInformation and Documentation Centre (DESIDOC)for the forty and odd defence laboratories.

The National Informatics Centre (NIC) is nowpreparing an all-India sub-set on medical and bio-medical journals. Another significant exercise isunder progress on aerospace journals.

Besides the three major efforts indicatedabove, several subject-wise approaches havebeen made. For example, the Medical LibraryAssociation of India, (Western Region) compileda catalogue for medical periodicals in the westernregion. The Indian Scientific TranslatorsAssociation prepared an all-India compilation oncover-to-cover translated periodicals. Similarly, theJawaharlal Nehru University is preparing an all-India catalogue of secondary periodicals. All theseprojects were supported by NISSAT.

As an integral part of activities of theConsultative Committees for Rationalisation ofPeriodicals (CCRP) in the 16 cities, namely, Delhi,Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Hyderabad, Bangalore,Pune, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Kanpur, Cochin,Mysore, Bhopal, Lucknow, Trivandrum andVisakhapatnam, city-based union catalogues arebeing prepared for current periodicals (only) to aid

resource sharing and rationalization of acquisitionson a collective basis. Since the CCRP is acontinuing activity, it is expected that thesecatalogues would be updated annually.

Means of Payment

Usually, the orders are to be placed on anorder form. However, the format varies withinstitutions and there is no common order form.

The mechanism and means of payment alsovary with institutions. By and large, the rates arebased on number of pages of photocopies subjectto a minimum charge. Recently, INSDOC has alsointroduced handling charges in addition tophotocopying charges.

Institutions which are regularly in the businessof document supplies like the NISSAT Centresand INSDOC, also maintain deposit accounts towhich required charges are debited.

Some of the NISSAT Centres have startedtaking 'Membership Fee'. A membership allows,besides other services, availing of certain amountof document supply services. Some Centresmaintain the accounts themselves. Others issuecoupons which could be used as tenders.

NLA-ASTINFO Facility

Since the NLA-ASTINFO project has limitedamount of resources to provide subsidies, it hasbeen decided to make only a selective use of thefacility. Therefore, the responsibilities weredistributed to a few institutions which had therequired infrastructure to properly evaluate anorder for a document regarding its availability fromwithin India. Besides, there were logisticconsiderations. The current list of institutionshandling the NLA-ASTINFO requests may be seenat Annexure-2.

The ASTINFO Coordinating Unit-NISSAT hadacquired 'Request Forms' in bulk from NLAagainst UNESCO coupons and distributed thesame among the nodal institutions. So far, thearrangement had worked well except that thenodal institutions were reluctant to pay US $2 inplace of A $ 2 for a request form. -\ g

The activity, for unavoidable reasons, startedin early 1991. A quick survey was made toascertain the use of the facility. While everybodyacknowledged that the cost of the services was


low by any international standards, there were afew difficulties in making use of the facility.

Though the experience is only limited, theproblem of uncertainty of success appears to begenuine. The NLA has provided copies of thecatalogue on microfische to all the nodal agencies;unfortunately, several of them do not haveappropriate readers. In any case, both microfischeand its paper copies are too cumbersome tohandle. The ACU has now taken up a project toanalyse the catalogue and Identify specificopportunities the facility holds for India. It issuggested that all participating countries ofAST1NFO should undertake similar studies.

In response to the survey conducted, one ofthe nodal agencies provided the followingcomparative analysis:

Period : Nov. 1990 to July 1991Total No. of requests: 54

Source ASTINFO BLOSCCAS NIST

No. of papersrequested

No. of papersreceived

Failures

6

51

30

29

1

8

7

1

10

10—

Average time forsupply (in days) 35 37 38 32

Average cost perpaper (in Rs.) 36.40 150.00 300.00 Gratis

It may be observed that while the lead time fordocument supply by NLA-ASTINFO is comparableto other reputed sources and the cost is by far thelowest, the coverage of the NLA collection maynot be as good. The lie of NLA with CSIRO wouldhelp Increase the coverage of science andtechnology materials. If it were not so, then thewhole load of orders that are presently sent toinstitutions like the BLDSC now, would have gotdiverted to the NLA-ASTINFO. Two othercomments made by the nodal institutions are :

— Rupee devaluation has been a big blow tolibraries. They would have to provide for50% more in the budget (20% devaluation

20 + 20% escalation + 10% new journals). Insuch a difficult situation the NLA-ASTINFOfacility would certainly be a boon.

— Many a time, orders are placed with theBLDSC or NLA although the journal might

be very much available in a number oflibraries in India. This is because it maybe faster, more convenient or evencheaper at times, to get the documentsfrom outside than from within India.

In the context of the above scenario, thefollowing issues deserve attention:

— Facility to ensure availability of documentsin the NLA collection before placement oforders;

— Measures to enhance the coverage ofinformation materials of the ASTINFOproject;

— Measures for promotion of the facilitywithin the country.

Location of Documents

As mentioned earlier, the microfischecatalogue and its paper copy are cumbersome tohandle. In the 1991 deliberations held in MetroManila, it was recommended that the catalogueshould be computerized using CDS/ISIS. It isdesirable that this recommendation be pursuedurgently.

Coverage of Information Materials

The NLA has about 100 thousand titles fromscience, social science, humanities all puttogether. The BLDSC experience suggests thatperiodicals which are highly In demand and moreoften subscribed to, also attract heavy demand tordocument supply.

Therefore, the list of journals available withthe NLA should be analysed and coverage of corejournals determined.

The core resources should have about 10,000current S & T journals (based on BLDSC's orsimilar rank lists) in heaviest demand withImmediate back run of about 5 years. This shouldraise the rate of satisfaction to about 80%.

The gap between the desirable 10,000 currentcore journals and those subscribed by the NLAwould have to be appropriately bridged-Cooperation from other national document supplyfacilities of ASTINFO countries may be sought forselective coverage of the core.

Similarly, the cooperation of ASTINFO


countries may be sought lor document supplyto the global community of users so far asliterature produced in the respective countries isconcerned. Such global service could potentiallyearn revenue to supplement UNESCO's meagresubsidy kitty.

Promotion

In India, the facility has not been publicized tothe extent necessary. This may be one of thereasons why the utilisation of NLA-ASTINFOservices did not pick up. So far, only the NISSATNewsletter was used, that too in the Notes andNews column. It is proposed to step up thepromotional efforts also in advertisement formthrough Newsletters brought out by NISSAT andother information programmes and throughpublications of professional bodies.

Conclusion

The NLA-ASTINFO document supply facility isattractive for developing countries like India, andtherefore, should be continued. India has takenlonger lead time to get organized; now severalresource institutions, geographically well-spread,have been given the responsibilities to handle thefacility.

The performance at the NLA-end has been

good. From the users-end,recommendations 'are made:

the following

All participating countries should analysethe NLA catalogue vis-a-vis their own andidentify ways and means of maximizingthe benefits from the facility;

NLA should analyse its own catalogue vis-a-vis rank list of journals available, andfind the gaps in the coverage of corecollection. The gaps could be suitablybridged through cooperation of ASTINFOmember countries;

ASTINFO should computerize the NLAcatalogue using CDS/ISIS to facilitatefaster cross-checking of orders at hand;

A small brochure may be prepared to helppromote the facility in participatingcountries;

The market potential of the NLA facilitytogether with supporting potential of themember countries may be properlyassessed so that revenue could begenerated to offset at least a part of thesubsidy component during and after thecurrent project.

Annexure-l Analysis of Orders Executed by INSDOC During 1989-90.

Total orders registered 8078Orders cancelled 1000 "Orders executed 7556

Univ.

252633.43%

R & DLabs.

181023.95%

Medical Engineering PhysicalSciences Sciences Sciences

2056 1505 155827.22% 19.92% 20.62%

Indust Individual Govt ForeignDeptt. Centres

1200 1000 560 46015.88% 13.24% 7.41 % 6.09%

(Contd.)


21

ProcurementSource

Time Taken

Delhi Libraries

NSL Delhi Libraries*

1 1 3 4 472915.01% 62.59%

< 8 Weeks < 12 Weeks

2932 2200

Other Indian Libraries 385 212

Foreign Channels 462 300

Percentage 50.01 35.90

Other Libs(in India)

77010.19%

> 12 Weeks

731

173

161

14.09

ForeignCentres

92312.21%

Total

5863

770

923

100

' Other than NSL" Includes orders from the previous years

Source: Annual Report INSDOC 1989-90.

Annexure-2 Nodal Institutions Handling NLA-ASTINFO Facility

Region/City Nodal Institution

A. NORTH :New Delhi Indian National Scientific

Documentation Centre

Defence Scientific Information andDocumentation Centre

Indian Agricultural Research InstituteNational Social Science Documentation Centre

22

B.

C.

D.

Lucknow

SOUTH :

Madras

Bangalore

Hyderabad

EAST:

Calcutta

Shillong

WEST:

AhmedabadPune

Central Drug Research Institute

Indian Institute of Technology

Central Machine Tools Institute

Indian Institute of Chemical Technology

Indian Association for Cultivation of Science

North Eastern Hill University

Ahmedabad Textile Industry's ResearchNational Chemical Laboratory

Association

Note : Apart from the institutions listed above, the National Centre for Science Information has procuredNLA-ASTINFO forms directly.


NISSAT-INSDOC Courses on Computer Application toLibrary and Information Activities 1992-93

1. Computer Application to Library and Information Activities (for freshers)

Course Content

The course comprises MSDOS, CDS/ISIS, dBASE, Wordstar, Lotus 1-2-3 and theory classes onMicrocomputer hardware, files and database organisation, computerised information retrieval, commoncommunication format, etc.

Duration : 13 April 1992 to 15 May 1992 (5 weeks)Seats : 15

2. Computer Application to Library & information Activities (for freshers).

Course Content : As in Sr. No. 1 .

Duration : 25 May 1992 to 26 June 1992 (5 weeks)Seats : 15

3. DBMS and dBASE

Course Content

The course consists of both theory and practical classes and covers the following: Basics of databasemanagement systems, with examples of relational database management systems, dBASE ill Plus andtheir library applications in acquisition, processing, circulation control and salient features of dBASE IV.

Duration : 13 July 1992 to 7 August 1992 (4 weeks)Seats : 15

4. BibllometrlcsCourse Content

Bibliometrics: definition, scope, limitations; Mathematical bibliometrics; Bibliometric laws; Bibliometrictools; Application of bibliometric methods for generating various indicators including science indicators;Indian contributions in bibliometrics; Computerised searching of Science Citation Index in CD-ROM.

The last two days of the course will be devoted to presentation of papers by the participants anddiscussion of the bibliometric problems on which the participants are working.

Duration : 12 October 1992 to 23 October 1992 (2 weeks)Seals : 15

5. Computer Application to Library & Information Activities (for freshers).

Course Content : As in Sr. No. 1 .

Duration : 2 November 1992 to 4 December 1992 (5 weeks)Seats : 15

6. CDS/ISIS (Ver. 2.32) with PASCAL Interface (for those having working knowledge in CDS/ISIS). 23Course Content

The course comprises all the facets of CDS/ISIS (Ver. 2.32), programming through PASCAL and itsapplication in the CDS/ISIS (Ver. 2.32) environment. Emphasis is on the creation of databases relating to


various library & information activities and generation of computerised products like accession list, authorindex, subject index, library catalogue, directories of various kinds and so on.

Duration : 4 January 1993 to 29 January 1993 (4 weeks)Seats : 15

7. Computer Application to Library & Information Activities (for freshers).

Course Contents: As in Sr No. 1 .

Duration : 8 February 1993 to 1 2 March 1993 (5 weeks)Seats : 15

8. Recent Developments In Information Science & Technology (Refresher course for workinglibrarians).

Course Content

indexing, abstracting and thesaurus construction. Technical writing, Bibliographic formats, ISO 2709,CCF & UNIMARC.Bibliometrics & InformetricsComputer Application to Library & Information ActivitiesComputer communication networksComputerised databases and on-line searchingCD-ROM databases and on-line searchingElectronic MailDesktop PublishingReprographicsTeletex, Videotex, etc.

The course comprises lectures and demonstrations.Duration : 22 March 1993 to 2 April 1993 {2 weeks)Seats : 15

• Seats will be filled up on first-come first-served basis.

• Course Fees:

~~Rs. 3500V- {with accommodation)Rs- 280QV- (without accommodation)US$ 1600/- (with accommodation) (for foreigners)

Rs. 2750/- (with accommodation)Rs. 2250A (without accommodation)US$ 1250/- (with accommodation) (for foreigners)

Rs. 1500/- (with accommodation)

5 week course

4 week course

2 week course Rs. 1200/- (without accommodation)US$ 650/- (without accommodation) (for foreigners)

Course fees are to be sent in advance in the form of cheque or demand draft payable to Director,INSDOC, New Delhi.

Eligibility: The courses are exclusively meant for library and information professionals. Persons working inlibraries/information centres, and having library science/computer science qualifications are eligible to

24 apply. Fresh candidates having post-graduate degree in library and/or information science are also eligibleto apply.

How to Apply: Applications are to be made in prescribed form available on request.

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


News and Events

Marketing of Information Services and Products —AGLIS Convention and Seminar

The theme is not new but a discussion on the topicis more relevant in the perspective of new industrial andeconomic policy, observed Prof. T. Viswanathan whiledelivering the inaugural address at AGLIS Convention andSeminar on Marketing of Information Products held at NewDelhi on 24 Dec. 1991 .

While In some parts of the world there was a floodof information, others were drought stricken, continuedProf. Viswanathan. Out of about 60,000 S 4 T periodicalspublished in the world today India had access to 20,000only. This situation will have to be balanced. Access toinformation in remote places was passible on a cost-effective basis with the help of modern informationdissemination and communication techniques. But workhad to go on for repackaging information to give specificinformation to the needy; mere subject classification wasno longer relevant, Prof Viswanathan observed. Inter-librarycooperation formed the backbone of efficient informationservice through the use of IT.

Earlier AGLIS President Shri V.K. Rangra whilewelcoming the participants explained the theme of theSeminar and referred to some other issues which are of deepconcern to the library profession such as anomalies in thenew pay structure of government librarians, post devaluationconversion rates and increase in the mark-up from 5 to 9%announced by the Good Offices Committee for Procurementof books through booksellers effective 16 Sept. 1991.

The Technical Session at which about a dozen paperswere presented was chaired by Prof. P.B. Mangla of theUniversity of Delhi.

It was resolved that the working librarians as well asthe users should be exposed to the concept of marketingand the topic may be included in the curriculum of study forMLIS Case studies on the utility of marketing as a techniquein libraries and information centres should also be carriedout.

Shri Ambrish Kumar. Secretary, AGLIS proposed avote of thanks at the conclusion of the Seminar.

Prof. T. Viswanathan addressingAGLIS Convention & Seminaron Marketing of InformationProduct*. Seated at left isAGUS President V.K. Rangra

IF LA General Conference, New Delhi

The 58th Annual Conference of the InternationalFederation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA} willbe held in New Delhi during 30 Aug. - 5 Sept. 1992. About3000 delegates are expected to attend (2000 from overseas).

'Library and Information Policy and Perspective' is themain theme of the Conference Subtopics include conceptualframework for national library and information policies, Role ofpublic, academic and special libraries in providing informationneeds, and users and their needs.

The Indian Library Association (ILA), the hostorganization has constituted a 20-member Indian OrganizingCommittee.

The Registration fee is Rs 3000 per delegate payableby demand draft to Indian Organizing Committee—IFLA 1992C/o INSOOC, 14 Satsang Vihar Marg, New Delhi-110 067.

Strategic Information Planning : ICPE Workshop

The International Centre for Public Enterprises inDeveloping Countries, Ljubljana Slovenia (Yugoslavia) isholding a workshop and seminar during 1 4 - 1 7 April 1992on Strategic Information Planning. The workshop is beingorganized with the active participation of ICPE, the Collegeof Information Studies of Orexel University, Philadelphiaand FID.

The primary objective is to transmit extensive practicalexperiences of some of the world's leading internationalexperts in the field of information policy.

The participation fee is USD 350 to be remitted toICPE, PO BOX 92, 61000 Ljubljana. Yugoslavia.

Public Library System at Cross-Roads : A.P. LibraryConference

The Andhra Pradesh Library Association organized atwo-day Conference ( 1 1 - 1 2 Jan. '92) in Vijayawada. Attendedby about 80 delegates from A.P. and neighbouring States,the Conference was inaugurated by Dr P.V. Ranga Rao.

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The major themes discussed were library movement,role ot public libraries in non-formal education and adultliteracy, possible methods of increasing readershipbibliographic control of Telegu publications and library as asource for development of information technology and itsintroduction to modernise the public library system.

Shti Kodati Narayana Rao, the Chief Guest stressedthe need for active participation of professionals in the librarymovement. Smt P.P. Nightingale, Director ol Public Libraries,A.P. released the Conference Volume on the occasion.

Marine Science* Information Exchange

'Modern Trends in Marine Science BibliographicInformation Handling' is the theme of a Seminar beingorganized by National Institute of Oceanography, Goaon 28 Feb. 1992. The objective was to optimise the useof modern tools and techniques and develop a network ofmarine science institutions in India for effective speedyinformation exchange.

INFOTECH-ASIA '93

The Society for Information Science is planning anInternational Conference and exhibition on DatabaseProduction and Distribution: Resources, Technology andManagement. The Conference is to be held as part of the12th annual Convention of the Society some time in February1993 under the banner INFOTECH-Asia '93.

The event is proposed to be held in Bangalore and willhave as Co-sponsors the National Information Centre, NewDelhi and Informatics (India) Pvt. Ltd Bangalore. Itsobjectives are:

• To establish an Asian Conference Forum ofinternational reach to focus on information industry inthe Asian region.

To create awareness about growing opportunities in theareas of information handling in the region.

• To create opportunity for exchange of ideas andtechnologies

To promote joint venture opportunities among Asianand international organizations.

• To organise exhibits of international standard andquality as an integral part of the conference and tofocus on the state-of-the-art technology in the (iold.

Further details would be announced shortly.

NCSI New*

The National Centre for Science Information (NCSI) atthe Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore announces theavailability of the following services.

1 . CD-ROM Database Service: Engineering — Makesavailable abstracts of research publications for specificresearch topics in engineering. The service is derived from,COMPENDEX, the electronic version of the Engineering Indexabstracting journal. NCSI has COMPENDEX databases from1986 to date.

The minimum handling charge is Rs. 100 per searchlor first 50 abstracts and Rs 2 per abstract subsequentlyDelivery time 3-4 days (local), one-two weeks tor outstations.Search results can also be given on floppy diskettes suppliedby the user.

2. Retrospective Search Service —- NCSI is newONLINE with more than 300 international databases fromAeronautics to Zoology-residing in a database host computersystem in USA. It can now meet retrospective literaturesearch requirements from any of these databases. Being asupplementary service to the Centres's Current AwarenessService, the Online facility has been set up by connecting acomputer in NCSI with the computer system in USA throughtelecommunication networks.

The 300 odd databases provide comprehensivecoverage on science, business, technology, chemistry,medicine, engineering, current events and more. Thesedatabases, updated regularly, contain more than 175 millionitems of information — ranging from references to literature(papers in journals, conferences, patents, etc.), to thecomplete text of a journal article: to a directory-type listing ofcompanies, associations or famous people; to an in-depthfinancial statement for a particular company, etc. To namejust a few of the important databases: Chemical Abstracts(Chemical Science and Technology, PREDICASTS PROMPT(products, markets, technology review and forecasting),Compendex (Engineering Information}, COMPUTERDatabases (Computer Industry), Textile Technology Digest,Metadex (Material and Metals), P las pec (Plastic). Medline(Medical Science), International Pharmaceutical Abstracts,Food Science and Technology Abstracts, World PatentAbstracts, and many more.... Delivery time15-20 days.

For further details write to Prof. V. Rajaramart,Chairman, NCSI. Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore,560 012.

3. Current Awareness Service in Science (CAS) —Subscribers to ttiis service will regularly receive referencesand abstracts of published literature in their field of interestduring the subscription period. Annual subscription charge ispayable in advance by DD to Registrar, Indian Institute ofScience, Bangalore 560 012, Payments should accompanythe User Profile Information Sheet.

4. Document Delivery Service (DDS) — The service islimited to only Biose articles cited in the CAS printouts sentto users from NCSI cost Rs 0.75 per page photocopied, ifthe journal is not available in HSc Library, the photocopy willbe acquired from NLA at the specific request of the user. Aphotocopy for one article obtained from NLA will cost Rs. 50.

Dialog News

During the year 1991 , DIALOG added over 30 newdatabases with several more full-text sources to its online listand released 10 new databases on CD-ROM. Today DIALOGnot only hosts the largest number of databases but alsooffers the largest number of full-text sources (more than1400). More and more Asian sources are now being added.Kompass Asia Pacific, released this year covers 18,707Indian companies. A Predleasts database on DIALOG hasover 20,000 records on Indian business and industry. Almostevery major Indian journal is covered in one or otherDIALOG database.


A new search facility added this year enablessimultaneous scanning of ail the 425 plus databases on anytopic in DIALINDEX (SF ALL). DIALOG Journal Name Finderdatabase won database magazine's "product of the year"award. It is a very unique database which serves as acommon index file to all the journals covered in all theDIALOG databases. Followed by its success and wideappreciation, DIALOG introduced two more databases in thiscategory—DIALOG Company Name Finder and DIALOGProduct Name Finder.

The year saw devaluation of rupee, making everythingincluding information expensive. In this context, mention mustbe made of a very low cost option which DIALOG offers. It isan independent interface called Knowledge Index which offerslow cost access to nearly 100 most popular DIALOGdatabases at a reduced cost of more than 60% compared toits main interface. The databases in this category includepopular ones like Iris pec, Magazine Index, etc. KnowledgeIndex is very popular among students and academic users inthe U.S. offered after 6 p.m. (local time). Knowledge Indexcan be searched during day time also from India onSaturdays.

DIALOG is going strong with CD-ROMs loo, and nowoffers over 40 databases which include popular ones likeNTIS, MEDLINE and COMPENDEX and many fult text fileslike KIRK & OTHMER Encyclopaedia on chemical industry.More are on the anvil.

SDI Auto system

This is a menu driven Micro CDS/ISIS pascal programthat works on two Micro CDS/ISIS databases one of whichcontains SDI profiles while the other contains bibliographicdata with keywords- that are used to construct the profiles inthe first database.

During its operation the system picks a profile from theSDI database starting at a user specified master file number.The profile is then searched in the bibliographic database .and the corresponding hit records are saved and printedwith a format that includes the current SDI users name, theprofile and the date-of search. The printout covers a recordrange that is user specified.

At the end of the print run the next occurrence in theprofile field of the SDI users database is picked and theprocess repeats itself. If there are not mom occurrences thenext record in the user specified range is accessed. All thishappens automatically until the record range is exhausted.

Besides the above, the SDI autosystem can printmailing labels from any Micro CDS/ISIS database thatcontains addresses.

The system has been developed by S.G. SystemsInternational, Nairobi (Kenya).

YS Parmar UHF Library: Services Offered

The YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry,Solan offers comprehensive S 4 T information retrieval facilitythrough CD-ROM techrwlogy. It launched the CAB Abstractsdatabase in late 1989. The library has presently two dises:(a) CAB 1984-96 and (b) AGRICOLA 1984-90 (database ofNational Agriculture Library, USA). To maintain updateinformation, the UHF is also subscribing to Current Contentson Diskettes with ABSTRACTS (Agriculture, Biotogy and

Environmental Sciences} since April 1990. This enablesscientists to search and browse the latest bibliographic datafrom more than 1000 leading journals.

In addition, the library has in-house databases onhorticulture, agriculture and forestry research informationdatabase on MSc and Ph D theses: Forestry, Periodicalsholdings, Books, Temperate fruits and Floriculture.

The library also offers services to scientists andstudents interested in agriculture, horticulture and forestryinformation from all over India.

Smart Library System (SLS)

Developed by S.G. Systems International Nairobi(Kenya), the Smart Library System (SLS) is stated to be anintegrated software package for use in a library or informationunit.

The system features a user-friendly user interface thatconsists of context-sensitive help information, status lines,message tines, pulldown and pop-up menus and dearlylabelled data display windows.

Printer output can be selected from a wide range ofprinters and is formatted.

The system uses fast access databases for real-timedata manipulations.

SLS can be used by any library or information unit inwhich the following (unctions exist: circulation, acquisitions,serials management and document access catalogues.

It is particularly suited to users of Micro CDS/ISIS asit comes with Micro CDS/ISIS pascal programs for off-loadingdata from an ISIS bibliographic database to SLS's documentsdatabase for circulation control.

Workshop on Computer Networking

A workshop on Computer Networking was organizedduring 17-18 February 1992 by INFLIBNET at New Delhi. Itwas attended by staff of universities and colleges. Theobjectives were:

— to offer information and knowledge relevant to settingup and operating an electronic mail node

— to make participants knowledgeable about standardtetecom facilities and datacom equipment such asmodems and PADs.

— to provide an introduction to computer networks, largelyin the context of academic networks.

Library Legislation In Punjab

The Punjab Library Association organised a Seminaron 'Public Library System in Punjab" which was held fromNov. 22-23, 1991 at the Senate Hall of Punjabi University,PatJala. Or H.K. Manmohan Singh, Vice-ChanceIIor, PunjabiUniversity, Patiala delivering the inaugural address stressedthe need for legislation on Public Library System in the Statein consultation with library experts. He said the time hadcome to put pressure on the government and society to putthe library system on progressive lines. Dr Singh stressed theneed of inculcating the habit of reading.

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Dr Ujagar Singh Banga, DPI (Colleges) Punjab,presided over the inaugural function. Or Banga said that theState Government was contemplating legislation on publiclibrary system and had instructed (he College Directorate toprepare a draft after studying the Haryana Public LibrariesAct.

Dr N.K. Sharma, President, Haryana LibraryAssociation in his keynote address said that the public librarysystem required the enactment ol library legislation for legalbase, including proper functioning of Die constituents of thepublic library system.

Dr Janak Raj, Director of the seminar lamented thatwhen the world after Agricultural Age and Industrial Age wasentering the Information Age, the State of Punjab with (hehighest per capita income in India does not have a propernetwork of even traditional type of public libraries. Hestressed the need of enactment of library legislation.

The Two-day Seminar was attended by about 100delegates who came from all over the State of Punjab, Inall 17 papers were presented in 4 technical sessions.

NICFOS Launches Current Content Service

The National Information Centre for Food Science andTechnology (NICFOS) at CFTRI, Mysore has launched the'Current Content Service' to enable users to have access tocontents pages of journals not received in (heir libraries butare available with NICFOS. Requests for original articles fromthe contents pages will also be attended to.

The service is intended to keep users abreast ol thelatest developments in specific areas of their interest Thecharge is Rs 2 per page pi us forwarding charges. For furtherinformation contact Area Coordinator, Library, NICFOS,CFTRI, Mysore 570 013.

Directory of Computer Software for Chemistry andChemical En gin earing 1991

The Directory gives information on more than 400software/programs with abstracts and with the name ofauthors who have developed or the vendors from whom thesoftware packages can be obtained. The directory provideskeyword index for easy location of information.

The publication should be found useful by R & Dinstitutions, industries, universities, chemical engineeringprofessionals and students and faculty of academicinstitutions in the field of chemical engineering.

The cost of the publication is as follows: Rs. 500/-{Hard copy); Rs. 750/- (Diskette version)

Interested organisations/persons are requested to sendDD/Cheque in favour of the Director, Central ElectrochemicalResearch Institute, Karaikudi 623 006.

Viruses — A Remedy at Last?

Experts have identified around 500 computer viruses-codes that can cause PCs to go haywire, with self-evidentlydreadful consequences. Programs exist to immunize PCsagainst known viruses—but new ones are appearing everyweek, against which microcomputer users are totallyunprotected.

Now a Califomian company has produced a packagewhich, it claims, can help. XTree's ViruSafe has a databaseof all known viruses. From that, the program can eliminaterecognized viruses residing in a computer's memory or harddisk and spot suspicious—looking codes that could be anew virus.

To determine whether a code is, in fact, a vims,ViruSafe creates a temporary file and monitors what the codedoes to it. If it proves harmful to the test file, ViruSafe addsthe new virus to its database and removes it from the PC.

ViruSafe, itself, is intended to be immune: it iscomposed of six overlapping modules, so if (he programbecomes infected the damaged portion is deleted and rebuiltfrom the unaffected file automatically. —Business Weak,August 26, 1991.

Object-oriented Programming

Object-oriented programming is an emerging softwaretechnique that could meet the computer industry's mostdaunting challenge: to make software easier to create,simpler to use, and far more reliable. Some pundits predictthat object-oriented programming could Ob for software whatthe microchip did for hardware.

While computer hardware has made giant leapsforward recently, a yawning gap has appeared in softwaredevelopment, which gets wider by the year. Programmingremains a painstaking, often painfully slow task, ridded withopportunities for error.

The 'objects' towards which the new buzzword insoftware is oriented are chunks of programming or data thatcan act like things in the real world. To take an examplefrom one well-known microcomputer system, you can useelectronic objects called file folders and file cabinets toorganize pages of information—the way you would in thephysical world.

Objects can be applied to many kinds of programs.An object can be a business form, an insurance policy,or the axle of a car. The axle "object" would incorporatedata describing its physical dimensions, and programmingthat describes how it interacts with other parts, such aswheels and struts.

A system for a human resources department wouldhave objects called employees, which would have data abouteach worker and the programming needed to calculate payrises, sign up dependents for benefits, and make payrolldeductions. Because objects have "intelligence'-they knowwhat they are and what they can and can't do—objects canautomatically carry out tasks such as calling into anothercomputer, perhaps to update a file when an employee ispromoted.

The biggest advantage is thai objects can be reusedin a number of programs. The object in an electronic mailprogram that places messages in alphabetical order canalso be used to alphabetize invoices. Thus, programscan be built from prefabricated, pretested building blacksin a fraction of the time it would take to build them fromscratch. Programs can be updated by simply adding newobjects.


A Key breakthrough is the ability to build largeprograms from lots of small, prefabricated ones. That ispossible because objects completely change the traditionalrelationship between programs and data, which have beenstrictly segregated for 40 years. An object encapsulatesprograms and data in a self-contained unit, which fullydescribes some real-world entity.

For the ordinary user, the object-oriented softwarenow tumbling off the assembly lines of major manufacturersshould make so-called user-friendly micros much easier toget to grips with. One of the goals of Hie earliestresearchers into object-oriented programming, back inthe 70s, was to design a system so simple a child coulduse it. 20 years later, the technology promises to makecomputers easy enough for even adults to use. — BusinessWeek, September 1991.

Thesaurus Construction System

A Thesaurus Construction System, offering specialistsoftware for information professionals, is available from aCalifomian company. TCS Professional can be used to buildthesauri, controlled vocabularies, data dictionaries, or anyhierarchical lists. It offers polyhierarchy support, unlimitednumber of hierarchies, unlimited number of references, long-text scope notes, user defined notes, and block transfers ofterms. It is also capable of sending direct alphabetical,hierarchical, rotated term, and proof reports to file orprinter.

TCS Professional offers pull-down menus and acolour display, as well as other features designed for user-friendliness. It is PC compatible, and costs USD450.

New Paper Keeps Secrets

For three decades, newsletter publishers andgovernment censors have shared a common obsession;thwarting illicit photocopying of their pricey or secretinformation. Using blue paper was the first solution, andmany other ink and paper colours have been tried-only tofall prey to newer copiers.

Now a Japanese company, Kiso Chemical Corp.,believes it has found an answer: a "secrets pacer", dubbedKSP, that is protected by a very thin film of evaporatedaluminium. The metal coating deflects and scatters a copier'slight so thai the machine can't distinguish between type andbackground. Feed the bronze-coloured sheets into a copier,and out come all-black copies

The main drawback is cost: KSP's introductory price isaround USD1 per sheet, a great deal more than conventionalcopy paper, though that should drop as production volumerises. The manufacturers expect to sell USD2 million worthin the first year and see demand tripling by 1995. —Business Week, September 1991.

IDIS Interface Opera lional

Since July 1 9 9 1 , UNESCO has been operating IDIS,a bi-directionat interface between two of its databasemanagement programs, Micro-CDS/ISlS, a bibliographicdatabase management package, arid IDAMS, which dealswith numerical data-

IDIS performs data description and data transferbetween Micro-C OS/ISIS and I DA MS-PC in both directions.It provides the opportunity to handle all types of textual andnumerical information, gathered for administrative as well asscientific purposes, in a unified way.

Written in CDS/ISIS Pascal, IDIS is integrated inMicro-CDS/ISIS with two options added to the main menu:database export to IDAMS, and dataset import from IDAMS.The mutual transfer is controlled by the data description filesof the respective packages.

IDIS was developed for Unesco by Dr Peter Hunya,Scientific Adviser, TUDORG Informatics and Organization,Budapest, Hungary.

INS Database Released on CO-ROM

The INIS database is now available on CD-ROM.Produced by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),in collaboration with participating countries and otherinternational organizations INIS covers the peaceful usesof nuclear science and technology.

INIS provides extensive coverage of all aspects ofnuclear science and its peaceful applications, with emphasison physics, chemistry, earth sciences, life sciences, isotopesand radio applications, and engineering.

Information contained in the INIS database comesfrom such sources as: journal articles, research reports,monographs, proceedings, theses, conference papers, andpatents. Coverage dates back to 1976 with approximately1.2 million records, the majority of which have lengthy anddetailed abstracts. INIS is an English-language database,but some titles, abstracts and source material appear intheir original languages.

The complete database will be published on four discsand updated quarterly. — The Silv&r Planer Exchange, May1991.

TNC> Bibliography Published

The UN Centre on Transnational Corporations(UNCTC) has published the bilingual (English-French)Transnational Corporations; a selective bibliography 1988-1990. UNCTC's work is aimed at the following objectives;to further ihe understanding of the nature of TNCs; tosecure effective international agreements; and to strengthenthe negotiating capacity of host countries in dealing withTNCs.

Main topics covered in the bibliography are: foreigndirect investments; TNCs, their managemeni and their impacton home and host countries; the economic, political, andsocial Issues that affect and are affected by TNCs; theinternational and national legal and policy framework againstwhich TNCs operate; and the contractual arrangements thatlink TNCs and host governments. Works selected forinclusion treat issues in an international context. Forexample, works dealing with the banking system of justone country without reference to transnational activitieswere excluded.

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N1SSAT NEWSLETTER NO. 1 , 1992

This bibliography covers books and articles publishedfrom 1988 to 1990; it follows an earlier compilation publishedin 1988 that comprised works published from 1983 to 1987.Some citations reflect the literature in the Centre'sDocumentation Unit; others were laken from the UNBibliographic Information System (UNBIS) database, andfrom major international indexes and catalogues. Itrepresents a broad spectrum of world literature on thesubject of TNCs; special efforts were made to cover worksin many languages and from many parts of the world.

Transnational corporations: a selective bibliography1988-1990 carries ISBN 92-1-004032-5 and is available fromUN Sates Offices.

Cybernetics and Systems: Ninth International Congress

The World Organization of Systems and Cyberneticswill hold its Ninth International Congress in New Delhi during18-23 January 1993. The conference will be a joint venlure ofthe Society for Management Science and AppliedCybernetics, New Delhi and Systems Engineering andCybernetics Centre. Tata Consultancy Services, Hyderabad.

Topics will be covered in the following clusters each ofwhich may have multiple sessions:

1 . Methodological Problems in Systems andCybernetics, 2. Systems Engineering; 3 Cybernetics andSystems in Emerging Problems of Development, 4. Problemsof Third World Countries; 5 Robotics and Automation;6. Systems Practice; 7. Artificial Intelligence and Applications;B. Medical and Bio-Cybernetics; 9. ComputerCommunications.

Deadline for Submission of papers is June 30, 1992.Inquiries may be addressed to Dr A. Ghoshal, Secretary,Society of Management Science and Applied CyberneticsC/o CSIF1 Complex, Pusa, New Delhi 1 1 0 012.

1FLA Gold Medal for Prof. Mangle

At the 57th IFLA Conference held at Moscowrecently. Prof P.B. Mangla'of Delhi University wasawarded the prestigious IFLA^Gold Medal and a Citationwhich says the award is given for Prof Mangla's 'innovativeand outstanding contribution to the furtherance of nationaland international librarian ship' during his term of service onIFLA's Executive Board (1985-91) and as its Vice-President1987-91 We congratulate Prof. Mangla for the distinctionconferred on him.

Kallnga Award RecipientDr Narendra K. Sehgal

Kallnga Prize for Dr N.K. Bengal

Dr Narendra K. Sehgal, Director NCSTC (DST) hasbeen awarded the Kalinga Prize of UNESCO for SciencePopularisation (along with a Rumanian, Dr R. Iftimovici).

Dr Sehgal has to his credit a number of popularscience articles and analytical pieces on science/technology/education related subjects both in national and internationaljournals, books and magazines of repute.

He is currently Chairman of the NCSTC-Networkformed by the coming together of some 36 agencies forundertaking coordinated nationwide science popularisationprogrammes.

We extend our hearty felicitations to Dr Sehgal.

EEC Training Database at NISSAT

The Commission of European Communities maintainsa database which includes post-graduate and advancedtraining opportunities in the European Community, open tograduates and professionals from non-EEC countries. In the6th edition of the database, 1346 courses covering the fieldsof agriculture, engineering, health, informatics andmanagement from over 300 established training institutionshave been included. NISSAT has acquired this database.Those who want to know more about the database orabout any training course may contact the NISSATSecretariat. There is no charge for the service.

Errata

Volume 10, No. 3 (July-Sept 1991), P. 12 RH Column: Para3, Line 5 for GIST-900, read GIST 9000. Line 7 lor ASC IICode read ISC II Code.

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Video Film on NISSAT

NISSAT has completed preparation of a 'video film on NISSAT1 in collaboration with the ScienceCommunication UnilolC.S.I.R. Those who want to get the film may contact the NISSAT Secretariat. Thecassette will be priced normally and marketed through a reputed agency.

Another video presentation on 'Online access' is under preparation.
