Information Technology Important Points

BASICS OF INTERNET

Digital Subscribers Line (DSL)

Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP)

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP)

Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

Intrusion Detection System (IDS)

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)

Modem (Modulator / Demodulator)

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

Structured Query Language (SQL)

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)

Information Retrieval (IR)

National Information Standards Organisation (NISO)

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

Domain Name System (DNS)

Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET)

Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

KEYWORDS

ARPANET : Short for Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, the

precursor to the Internet. Developed in the late 1960s and early

1970s by the US Department of Defence, as an experiment in wide

area networking that would survive a nuclear war.

CDMA : Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is one of several digital

wireless transmission methods in which signals are encoded using a

pseudo-random sequence that decoded at the receiver’s end. CDMA

offers improvements over analogue transmission in the areas of

reduced call dropping, battery power conservation, more secure

transmission and increased service options.

Client-Server : The Client-Server Architecture is based on the principle where

Architecture ‘client’ program installed on the user’s computer (called client)

communicates with the ‘server’ program installed on the host

computer to exchange information through the network. The clientserver

model involves two separate but related programs, i.e., client

and server. The client program is loaded on the PCs of users hooked

to the Internet where as the server program is loaded on to the

‘host’ (usually a PC with large storage capacity and RAM, a minicomputer

or a main-frame computer) that may be located at a remote

place. The concept of client/server computing has particular

importance on the Internet because most of the programs are built

using this design.

DARPA : Short for Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, the

DARPA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Defence that

sponsored development of the protocols that became the TCP/IP

suite. DARPA was previously known as ARPA, the Advanced

Research Project Agency, when ARPANET was built.

DNS : Short for Domain Name Server, used to map names to IP addresses

and vice versa. Domain Name Servers maintain central lists of

domain name / IP addresses.

DSL : Short for Digital Subscriber Line. A method for moving data over

regular phone lines. A DSL circuit is much faster than a regular

phone connection, and the wires coming into the subscriber’s

premises are the same (copper) wires used for regular phone

service.

Dublin Core : A metadata element set intended to facilitate discovery of electronic

resources. Dublin Core is intended to be usable by both noncataloguers

and specialists alike, to provide an economic alternative

to more elaborate descriptive models such as full MARC

cataloguing. The Dublin Core can be mapped to the MARC record

and a variety of output structures can be generated.

Fire Wall : A combination of hardware and software that separates a LAN

into two or more parts for security purposes. Fire walls are often

used by institutions which house their web site on a server located

in the institute. The Fire wall provides a measure of security that

those accessing the company’s web site will not be able to access

private data that is housed on the same network.

ISDN : Integrated Services Digital Network is a system of digital phone

connections that allows voice and data to be transmitted

simultaneously across the world using end-to-end digital connectivity.

There are two basic types of ISDN service: Basic Rate Interface

(BRI) and Primary Rate Interface (PRI). BRI is a basic service

and is intended to meet the needs of most individual users. PRI is

intended for users with greater capacity requirements.

ISP : Internet Service Provider, a company that provides access to the

Internet. Typically these service providers also offer web hosting

services to their users.

Internet : A global network of networks connecting millions of computers

using TCP/IP protocol suite to support a number of applications

for information sharing and retrieval including the World Wide Web.

Each Internet computer, called a host, is independent. Its operators

can choose which Internet services to provide to its local users and

which local services to make available to the global Internet

community. Unlike online services, which are centrally controlled,

the Internet is decentralised by design.

Modem : Modulator / demodulator, a device that allows computers to

communicate over telephone lines by converting digital signals to

analogue, and vice versa. Modems can be either external, outside

your computer, or internal, inside your computer.

PSTN : Short for Public Switched Telephone Network, this is the standard

telephone service that most homes use. It is also referred to as

POTS, or Plain Old Telephone Service.

SMTP : Stands for Simple Mail Transport Protocol. The main protocol used

to send electronic mail on the Internet. SMTP consists of a set of

rules for how a program sending mail and a program receiving mail

should interact.

TCP/IP : Stands for Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol, is a

suite of protocols that defines the Internet. Originally designed for

the UNIX operating system, TCP/IP software is now available for

every major kind of computer operating system.

USB : It is the abbreviation of Universal Serial Bus. USB is a standard

port that enables a user to connect external devices (such as digital

cameras, scanners, and mouse). The USB standard supports data

transfer rates of 12Mbps (million bits per second), a vast improvement

over the serial port standard. Aside from speed advantages, USB

devices can be connected or disconnected without the need to restart

the computer.

WAIS : Stands for Wide Area Information Server, WAIS is a commercial

software package that allows indexing of huge quantities of

information and then making their indices searchable across

networks such as the Internet. A prominent feature of WAIS is that

the search results are ranked (scored) according to how relevant

the hits are to the search topic.

Z39.50 : Z39.50 is a national standard defining a protocol for computer-tocomputer

information retrieval. Z39.50 makes it possible for a user

of one system to search and retrieve information from other Z39.50

computer systems without knowing the search syntax used by other

systems. Z39.50 is an American National Standard that was originally

approved by the National Information Standards Organization

(NISO) in 1988.

LIBRARY AND INFORMATION NETWORK IN INDIA

Local Area Network (LAN)

Wide Area Network (WAN)

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET)

Developing Library Network (DELNET)

Calcutta Library Network (CALIBNET)

Ahmedabad Library Network (ADINET)

Mysore Library Network (MYLIBNET)

Madras Library Network (MALIBNET)

Bombay Library Network (BONET)

Inter Library Loans (ILL)

Online Public Access Catalogues (OPACs)

The National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS)

National Informatics Centre (NIC)

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR)

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

Chronology of development of networks in India

Year Network - Supported by

1977 NICNET, - NIC

1986 CALIBNET, Kolkata - NISSAT

1988 INFLIBNET, - UGC

1992 DELNET, Delhi - NISSAT

1993 ADINET, Ahmedabad - NISSAT

1993 MALIBNET, Chennai - INSDOC

1994 MYLIBNET, Mysore - NISSAT

1995 BALNET, Bangalore – NISSAT

Common Communication Format (CCF)

Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI)

Open Archive Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI/PMH)

Local Area Network (LAN)

When all the participants of library network are situated in a limited geographical location

(for example, within a building or campus) it is known as Local Area Network (LAN). In

other words, a LAN is a group of computers and associated devices that share a common

communications line or wireless link within a small geographic area. A local area network

may serve as few as two or three users to thousands of users.

Wide Area Network (WAN)

When all the participating libraries are located in different and far of locations (for example,

network of CSIR laboratories in India) it is known as Wide Area Network (WAN). In

other words, a WAN is a geographically dispersed telecommunications network for example,

DELNET.

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

When all the participants of the network are located within a city it is called as Metropolitan

Area Network (MAN). MAN is a kind of WAN but often it is referred as in between

LAN and WAN. MANs are very common within city limits that is why they are called as

Metropolitan Area Network. A MAN can have several interconnected LANs.

CALIBNET, ADINET, etc. are Metropolitan Area Networks.

Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET)

INFLIBNET development was started under University Grants Commission (UGC) India in 1991. Initially it was started as a project under Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA). The headquarter of INFLIBNET is situated in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

INFLIBNET has developed a library automation package called SOUL (Software for

University Libraries). SOUL works in client server environment. Currently, SOUL is

developed on Windows platform but efforts are being made to port on Linux platform. It

has all the necessary modules which a library needs.

Online access to these databases are given through web interface. Besides,

INFLIBNET has developed a system called SEWAK which automatically

processes offline queries sent through email. Mail with request should be sent to

sewak@mail.inflibnet.ac.in.

Education and Research Centre (ERIC)

Library and Information Science Abstract (LISA)

National Union Catalogue of Scientific Serials in India (NUCSSI)

Social Science Citation Index (SSCI)

INFLIBNET conducts an annual event called Convention on Automation of Libraries in

Education and Research Institutions (CALIBER)

Developing Library Network (DELNET)

DELNET has been sponsored by the National Information System for Science and

Technology (NISSAT), Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government

of India and is currently being promoted by the National Informatics Centre, Department

of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology,

Government of India and India International Centre, New Delhi. Though it became a

registered body in 1992 but was functional since 1988. DELNET was originally established

as Delhi Library Network and subsequently the name was changed to Developing Library

Network. The Headquarter of DELNET is in New Delhi.

National Convention on Library and Information

Networking (NACLIN) in an annual conference by DELNET

National Informatics Centre (NIC)

Calcutta Library Network (CALIBNET)

The CALIBNET was envisaged as a metropolitan network in 1993, linking 38 libraries in

Calcutta with financial support from NISSAT. The prime objective was to institute systematic

interlibrary co-operation and document delivery among the networked libraries for effective

resource sharing. The applications to be supported are electronic mail, file transfer, remote

logging to databases and document access. The participating libraries computerised their

in-house functions such as cataloguing, serials control, acquisition and fund accounting,

circulation and user services. These have been interconnected through X.25 protocol.

The Network Services Centre provides global information services for all the users of the

participating libraries. The services include current awareness, union catalogues, database,

access to national and international networks.

CALIBNET provides libraries and their members an efficient solution for their information

needs. The project was supported by NISSAT in 1986 and managed by the CALIBNET

Society established under the West Bengal Government’s Societies Registration Act 1961.

The centre is stationed at Jadavpur University Campus, Kolkata.

Software Developed: By intense in-house research and development two software

have been developed for supporting library activities:

Sanjukta: This in-house software has been developed for storage and retrieval

which is used in Centralised Database of CALIBNET for providing online access

from remote locations. The software provides options and flexibility for record

generation, organizing and searching information.

Parapar: Parapar has been developed to support interchange of bibliographic

data between different bibliographic standards like, USMARC, UNIMARC and

CCF. It converts other format data to ISO-2709 format which can be imported into

the centralized Database of CALIBNET.

Current Content Service: Confile Service: Confile is a current content service. It

covers almost 20,000 journals of different disciplines. It economizes library service on

journal subscription and reduces the drain on precious foreign exchange resources.

Document Delivery Service: Caliborder: Caliborder is a document delivery service

which delivers full text of any article and even patents on demand.

Selective Dissemination of Information: ConAlert: ConAlert service is designed to

give current and tailored bibliographic information. A user profile is created based on the

keywords. Notification about the arrival or availability of the document is sent to the

user. On demand document is also delivered at user’s desk.

Ahmedabad Library Network (ADINET)

ADINET is established for developing cooperative mode of working amongst the libraries

and information centres in and around Ahmedabad. It was established in 1994 with the

help of NISSAT. ADINET promotes sharing of resources and disseminates information

among member libraries by networking them up. It is stationed in INFIBNET Centre,

Ahmedabad.

Mysore Library Network (MYLIBNET)

Mysore Library Network (MYLIBNET) was initiated in 1995 with the support of NISSAT.

It is stationed in Central Food Technology Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore. About

116 colleges/institutions are affiliated to the University of Mysore; of these 34 college

libraries are located within Mysore. These were networked in the first phase.

Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Abstracts (MAPA)

NUCSSI (National Union Catalogues of Scientific Serials in India)

Bombay Library Network (BONET)

Bombay Library Network (BONET) was established in 1994 with financial support from

the NISSAT. It has 25 members in the city of Mumbai. Located in the National Centre

for Software Technology (NCST, now CDAC) a number of computers and software for

shared use to the members. The services offered includes access to bibliographic databases,

email, CD-ROM, etc. The BONET conducts seminars and training programmes for

member institutions.

Internet : Network of networks or a vast collection of inter-connected networks

that use the TCP/IP protocols and that evolved from the ARPANET of

the late 60’s and early 70’s.

Intranet : A private network inside an organization, which uses software like that

used on the Internet, but is for internal use only, and is not accessible to

the public.

Network : An interconnection of three or more communicating entities or A system

of computers interconnected by telephone wires or other means in order

to share information.

Node : Any device connected to a computer network. Nodes can be computers,

or any network appliances.

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION ORGANISATIONS

National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR)

National Social Science Documentation Centre (NASSDOC)

Defence Scientific Information and Documentation Centre (DESIDOC)

United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)

UNISIST (World Science Information System)

PGI—General Information Programme

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)

International Federation for Information and Documentation (FID)

International Council for Science (ICSU)

Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA)

Institute for Scientific Information (ISI)

National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR)

Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC), a constituent laboratory

of CSIR, was established in 1952, as a national centre for supplying information in

all fields of science and technology to any user in India or abroad. It was established

with the support of UNESCO.

INSDOC has, since September 2002, been merged with National Institute of Science

Communication (NISCOM), another CSIR Laboratory and is presently named as

National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR).

National Science Library (NSL)

NSL was estibilished in 1964

National Social Science Documentation Centre (NASSDOC)

National Social Science Documentation Centre (NASSDOC), New Delhi was

established in 1969 by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR).

Since 1970, the compilation of the Union Catalogue of Social Science Periodicals

and Serials is being undertaken by NASSDOC.

Union Catalogue of CD-ROM Databases in Social Science Libraries in India

Defence Scientific Information and Documentation Centre (DESIDOC)

DESIDOC was functional in 1958 as Scientific Information Bureau (SIB), a division

of the Defence Science Laboratory (DSL) presently the Defence Science Centre.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) library, established

in 1948, became a division of SIB in 1959. In the year 1967 SIB was reorganised

and renamed Defence Scientific Information and Documentation Centre (DESIDOC).

It is still functioning under the administrative control of DSL. During in 1970, DESIDOC

became an independent unit and one of the laboratories of DRDO. The Centre

initially functioned in the main building of Metcalfe House, a national monument and

in 1988 moved to a new building in the same complex. After it became an independent

and self-accounting unit, DESIDOC has been functioning as a central information

resource for DRDO. It provides S&T information, based on its library and other

information resources, to the DRDO headquarters and its various laboratories located

all over India.

The objectives of DESIDOC are:

‘‘To function as a central source for providing scientific information, documentation,

library, reprographic, translation services to DRDO headquarters, laboratories,

establishments and to coordinate their scientific information programmes,

To develop an information system for Defence Science and Technology,

To provide training and user education programmes in the field of scientific

information,

To provide consultancy and referral services, and

To publish scientific and technical journal, books and monographs of DRDO’’.

The various activities of the Centre include the following:

a) Library Services

DESIDOC maintains the Defence Science Library which is the central library of

DRDO. It gives access to Online Public Access Catalogue, CD-Rom Search Service,

Document Supply Service and Resource Sharing Service.

b) Information Processing and Dissemination

The Library collects scientific and technical information of interest to DRDO and

provides current awareness services and selective dissemination of information to

users of DRDO.

c) Database Development

It develops and maintains bibliographic databases which includes OPAC, bibliographic

database of books, reports, conference proceedings in DSL. The full-text databases,

include newspaper clippings, Defence Science Journal, IEE/IEEE contents.

d) DRDO Publications

DESIDOC functions as the publication wing of DRDO and brings out a number of

journals, monographs, newsletters, etc.

e) Training

It provides training in information collection, processing and dissemination, library

automation, database development, online searching, Internet use, and many areas

concerned with IT.

f) Technical Services

It provides reprography (photography, audio, video presentation materials), translation,

communication (e-mail, Internet) and printing services.

Functional Areas and Activities

In order to meet various objectives and provide the services, the activities of the

centre are organised covering the following functional areas:

    a) Internet and e-mail Access

DESIDOC provids e-mail and Internet access to the DRDO Laboratories in the

country, through ERNET and NICNET. Communication links have also been

established between the Internet gateway of VSNL and DESIDOC and also between

VSNL gateway and DRDO Headquarters to provide scientists/managers high speed

easy access to Internet and its resources. DESIDOC has established an Internet Lab

to cater to the needs of the Internet users.

    b) Multimedia Laboratory

This facility has been provided to facilitate multimedia authoring, designing and

presentation facilities to the top management and the Scientific Adviser to the Defence

Minister. Expertise in the areas of image processing, CD-writing, audio-video

designing, desktop CD publishing and multimedia CD-ROM production has been

established. In order to establish multimedia laboratories both within and outside

DRDO a few multimedia products were published and consultancy was provided.

    c) Reprographic Facilities

Reprographic facilities has been set up to help DRDO top management and scientists

in their technical presentations. This facility has a computer-based multicolour slide

making system, a digital colour copier, high quality colour printers and video recorders,

which helps in providing high quality presentation materials.

    d) Printing Facility

A full-fledged high quality printing facility has been established which includes designing,

layout, typesetting, DTP, processing and printing units for in-house production of

DRDO publications. Commercial printing agencies have been given the responsibility

for high quality multicolour printing.

Publications

DESIDOC undertakes the following DRDO publications:

a) Defence Science Journal

b) Popular Science & Technology

c) DRDO Newsletter

d) DRDO Samachar

e) R&D Digest

f) Technology Focus

g) DESIDOC Bulletin of Information Technology

Defence Science Library

The Defence Science Library is the largest Defence Library in the country with a

unique collection of publications in various fields of science and technology. The

library has, currently, over 3 lakh documents that include books, periodicals, technical

reports, patents and standard specifications. This was one of the first libraries in the

country to be computerised.

United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural

Organisation (UNESCO)

UNESCO was established in 1946.

Networks of UNESCO

MEDLIB –Internet-based Virtual Library Network

APIN – Asia and Pacific Information Network

RINAF - Regional Information Society Network for Africa

JOURNET - Global Network for Education in Journalism

UNAL - UNESCO Network of Associated Libraries

INFOYOUTH - International Information and Data Exchange Network onYouth

ACCESS-net - Association of Computer Centres for Exploiting Sustainable

Synergy

HeritageNet - The Electronic Network of Cultural Institutions in Central Asia

INFORLAC - Information Society Programme for Latin America and the

Caribbean

ORBICOM – International Network that Links Communications Leaders

UNESCO Chairs/UNITWIN - The International Network of UNESCO

Chairs in Communications

Details of some of the networks of UNESCO are given below:

ORBICOM is an international network that links communications leaders from

academic, media, corporate and government circles for providing for exchange of

information and the development of shared projects.

UNAL, established in 1990 to promote co-operation among public libraries to build

international understanding and to establish contacts between libraries of the North

and of the South. UNAL’s principal objective is to encourage libraries that are open

to the public to undertake activities in UNESCO’s fields viz., the promotion of

human rights and peace, cultural dialogue, protection of the environment, fight against

illiteracy, etc. Over 500 libraries around the world are members of this Network.

APIN (Asia and Pacific Information Network) merges the Regional Network for

the Exchange of Information and Experiences in Science and Technology in Asia and

the Pacific (ASTINFO), the Regional Informatics Network for Southeast Asia and

the Pacific (RINSEAP) and the Regional Informatics Network for South and Central

Asia (RINSCA). APIN also covers all the activities carried out by the UNESCO

umbrella project General Information Programme (PGI) in the Asia and Pacific

Region.

PGI—General Information Programme

The General Information Programme (PGI) was created in 1976 by merging UNISIST

with a programme concerned with the development of documentation, libraries and

archives.

A mini/micro version of Computerised Documentation System/Integrated Set of

Information Systems (CDS/ISIS) Software has been developed by UNESCO and

is provided free of charge to non-profit organisations of developing countries.

International Federation of Library Associations and

Institutions (IFLA)

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), founded

in 1927 in Edinburgh, Scotland with the goal of promoting international contacts

among library associations and librarians. It is a non-governmental professional

organisation. It is presently one of the leading international bodies representing the

interest of library and information services and their users. It is considered to be the

global voice of library and information profession. In the year 1971, the IFLA set

up a permanent secretariat in The Hague, Netherlands.

IFLA’s 3 Core Programmes, namely,

Universal Bibliographic Control and International MARC (UBCIM),

Universal Availability of Publications (UAP) and

Universal Dataflow and Telecommunications (UDT)

International Federation for Information and Documentation (FID)

We will now discuss FID, an international organisation that was founded during the

late 19th century and has contributed enormously for the cause of our profession

for over hundred years. The activities of FID, however, have ceased since the year

2002 due to paucity of funds. But the organisation still exists in name. As FID had

played a major role in various activities related to libraries and information centres,

we are giving below a brief account of how it came into existence and its major

activities till the time its offices were shut down. It has to be noted here that although

FID is no more functional, its Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) activity is still

active as UDC became an independent consortium in 1990s.

International Federation for Information and Documentation (FID)

FID was the international professional association for documentalists, information

scientists and other specialists in information management. The International Federation

for Information and Documentation (the word information was added to the name

in 1986, but the acronym FID continued) was founded in 1895 by Paul Otlet and

Henri La Fontaine as the Institut International de Bibliographie (IIB) and was

renamed in 1930 as International Federation for Documentation. At the time of its

inception, the main aim was the ‘‘creation and maintenance of a comprehensive

world repertory of knowledge and development of the Universal Decimal Classification

(UDC) from the Dewey Decimal Classification for providing order and access to the

bibliographic entries in the world repertory’’. The Universal Bibliographic Repertory

Project had failed, but the IIB left legacies of great value in providing a nucleus for

the evolution of FID and in the development of UDC, which is presently a major

scheme of classification.

FID became a Federation in the year 1924 and got its legal status in 1959 as an

international non-governmental organisation under the Belgian act granting

incorporation to international non-profit associations pursuing a scientific, artistic or

educational goal. In 1928, it headquarters shifted to The Hague. After World War

II, its membership increased and activities expanded.

International Council for Science (ICSU)

ICSU – International Council for Science is, a non-governmental organisation. It was

started in 1931 as International Council of Scientific Union for the benefit of mankind.

It was set up to act or exchange of ideas, the communication of scientific information

and the development of standards in methodology, nomenclature and units. Another

main aim of ICSU was to ‘‘encourage international scientific activity for the benefit

of mankind’’.

Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA)

CODATA, the Committee on Data for Science and Technology, is an interdisciplinary

Scientific Committee of the International Council for Science (ICSU). It was established in 1972 as an interdisciplinary Scientific Committee of the International

Council for Science (ICSU) with the aim to ‘‘promote and encourage, on a worldwide

basis, the compilation, evaluation and dissemination of reliable numerical data

of importance to science and technology’’. The goal of CODATA is to improve the

quality, reliability, management and accessibility of data of importance to all fields of

science and technology. CODATA is, therefore, a resource that provides scientists

and engineers with access to international data activities for increased awareness,

direct cooperation and new knowledge. Presently, it has 23 countries as members,

and 24 national member delegates and committees.

CODATA is basically concerned with all types of data resulting from experimental

measurements, observations and calculations in every field of science and technology,

including the physical sciences, biology, geology, astronomy, engineering,

environmental science, ecology and others. Particular importance is given to data

management problems common to different disciplines and to data used outside

the field in which they were generated.

Institute for Scientific Information

(ISI), Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) and MEDLARS

Institute for Scientific Information (ISI)

The ISI was set up in 1960. It has been servicing the scientific, academic and

business communities as an information provider. It provides direct and easy access

to the bibliographic data, cited references and abstracts contained in the world’s

most important scientific, technical and scholarly publications.

ISI has been taken over by Thompson Scientific, a segment of Thomson Corporation

is now referred to as Thompson ISI. The goal of ISI is to ‘‘increase the impact of

research by providing researchers integrated information solutions delivered by the

most innovative technologies’’.

A recent development of ISI is the ISI Web of Knowledge which is the single

window from which researchers can access, analyse, and manage information. ISI

Web of Knowledge enables users to locate high quality information with help from

evaluation tools and bibliographic management products. It also provides innovative

search tools for cross-content and web document searching. It is equipped with a

sophisticated linking gateway as the ISI Web of Knowledge content is multidisciplinary,

and supports research conducted at academic, corporate, government, and not-forprofit

organisations world over.

We all know that ISI has been the only source for cited reference searching and this

facility has been enhanced by the Web of Science , the main component of Web of

Knowledge. Web of Science is a multidisciplinary collection of bibliographic

information from over 8,600 evaluated scholarly journals. The information taken

from each article includes the article’s cited reference list (bibliography), allowing

users to search for articles that cite a known author or work. Cited reference

searching is unique to ISI, providing effortless navigation backward, forward, and

through literature regardless of publication dates, country of origin, or disciplines.

ISI is also well known for the term ‘Impact Factor’. Based upon citation analysis

and quantifiable statistical data, it provides a systematic, objective way to determine

the relative importance of journals within their subject categories. The impact factor

can determine which are the best journals, what journals have the highest impact and

what journals are most frequently used or cited.

Users of ISI include librarians, academic researchers, administrators scientists,

researchers and analysts working in all kinds of organisations. The following facilities

are available from ISI:

— Simultaneous cross-content searching.

— Accessing full-text web content.

— Accessing over 100 years of backfile records and cited references.

— Searching “pre-published” journal articles.

— Conducting cited reference searching.

— Refining and mining useful information from search results.

— Linking directly to the full-text of primary literature, additional databases, and

any library’s holdings.

— Accessing freely available external collections.

— Alerting, including Personal Citation Alerts.

Citation Indexes

ISI also facilitates access to multidisciplinary research information from nearly 8,500

authoritative, high-impact journals covered by its citation indexes:

1) Arts and Humanities Citation Index

2) Science Citation Index Expanded

3) Social Science Citation Index

Current Awareness

ISI Current Contents Connect enables efficient current awareness service from bales

of contents of over 7,600 journals, 2,000 books and conference proceedings and

also provides links to over 3,600 ISI-evaluated websites.

ISI Links

Web of Science also offers fast, extensive linking facility as well as access to additional

research contents by web-accessible resources and the ISI Web of Knowledge

enables users to search them through a single interface. The types of links provided

by ISI are: Intra-content links, Inter-content links, Customer holdings, SFX contextsensitive

links and Publishers’ full-text. For further details on ISI Links, ISI website can be searched.

Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Information Services (MAPIS) based on

the Wealth of India and MAPA databases.

NISCAIR is the National Centre for ISSN International Centre for assigning

ISSN number to serials published in India.

GLOBAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND PROGRAMMES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

International Information System on Agricultural Sciences and Technology (AGRIS)

INIS

The acronym INIS stands for International Nuclear Information System. INIS

sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna started

functioning in 1970. It is a cooperative, decentralised computerised abstracting and

indexing system providing worldwide coverage of the literature on the peaceful uses

of nuclear energy. It processes and merges input provided by its members and

redistributes the information in machine-readable form as well as in print form. INIS,

the International Nuclear Information System is appropriate for those who need

information on the peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology.

INIS is an international co-operative information system, operated by the

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in collaboration with 132 members

that include 114 Member States and 19 International Organisations, with over 30

years of experience.

INIS processes most of the world’s scientific and technical literature that falls within

its subject scope. INIS maintains a bibliographic database which presently covers

over 2.5 million abstracted and indexed records and a comprehensive collection of

over 600,000 of full-texts of INIS scope publications which are not easily available

through the commercial channels, thus making it the world’s most comprehensive and

leading information source on the peaceful applications of nuclear science and

technology.

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre ((BARC)

AGRIS

AGRIS, the International Information System for the Agricultural Sciences and

Technology, was started in 1974 by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)

of the United Nations. AGRIS became fully operational in 1975 with the first issue

of AGRINDEX and was modeled on the INIS pattern to facilitate information

exchange and to bring together the world literature dealing with all aspects of agriculture.

Presently, FAO’s another programme, Current Agricultural Research Information

System (CARIS) and AGRIS are functioning collectively.

AGRIS is a cooperative system in which participating member countries input

references to the literature produced within their country irrespective of the language

and, in return, draw on the information provided by the other participants. To date,

242 national, international and intergovernmental centres are participating in the AGRIS/

CARIS programme.

Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

In the year 1986 UNESCO launched another network, called Asia-Pacific Information

Network in Social Science (APINESS) with the collaboration of Association of

Asian Social Research Councils.

MEDLARS

The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), a component of the National

Institutes of Health (NIH) is located in the campus of NIH in Bethesda, Maryland.

NLM is one of the largest medical libraries of the world. It collects materials in all

major areas of the health sciences and related areas which include chemistry and

physics. The goal of the library is to collect material and provide information and

research services in all areas of biomedicine and health care.

The NLM is presently having more than 7 million items that include books, journals,

technical reports, manuscripts, microfilms, photographs and images. This library is

equipped with one of the world’s finest medical history collections of old and rare

medical works. The collections of the library can be consulted either in the reading

room or through inter-library loan. NLM is a national resource for all U.S. health

science libraries which is a national network of libraries of medicine.

Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (MEDLARS) was established in

1964 as a computerised storage and retrieval system at the NLM. It provides

bibliographic access to the NLM’s large biomedical literature collection. It became

functional with the first computer-produced issue of Index Medicus.

The NLM has been publishing the Index Medicus, a monthly subject/author index

guide to articles in 4000 journals for over 125 years. All the information available

in Index Medicus, is also available in the database MEDLINE, the major component

of PubMed which is freely accessible via the World Wide Web. Other databases

of MEDLARS provide information on monographs (books), audio-visual materials,

and on various specialised subjects such as toxicology, environmental health, and

molecular biology.

MEDLINE is the National Library of Medicine’s bibliographic database, covers the

fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and

the preclinical sciences. MEDLINE can be accessed through PubMed and the NLM

Gateway.

PubMed, a service of the National Library of Medicine, contains over 15 million

citations for biomedical articles back to the 1950’s. These citations are from MEDLINE

and additional life science journals. PubMed has links to many sites providing fulltext

articles and other related resources.

NLM also has a large number of databases and other electronic resources which

can be accessed online. These include TOXLINE , NLM Catalog, MedlinePlus,

ClinicalTrials.gov, DIRLINE , Genetics Home Reference, Meeting Abstracts,

HSRProj, OMIM, HSDB and NCBI Bookshelf.

INSPEC

INSPEC, started in the year 1967, by the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE),

United Kingdom. Presently it is one of the leading bibliographic information services

available in English-language. It provides access to the world’s scientific and technical

literature in physics, electrical engineering, electronics, communications, control

engineering, computers and computing, and information technology. INSPEC is

based on the Science Abstracts service which has been available from the IEE since

1898. The major effort in this respect is preparation of the INSPEC database, since

1969, which provides all the services from INSPEC. The back files of Science

Abstracts are also available from 1898 to 1968 to which electronic access is facilitated

from the INSPEC Archive.

UNESCO - United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

IEE : Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), United Kingdom.

IAEA : International Atomic Energy Agency.

FAO : Food and Agricultural Organisation.

INIS, sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna started functioning in 1970.

SEARCH ENGINES:

Search Engine is a generic term used for the software that ‘searches’ the web for pages

relating to a specific query. ‘Google’ and ‘Excite’ are two examples of common search

engines that index and search a significant part of the web. Several websites have their

own search engines to index their own websites. The World Wide Web has several sites

dedicated to indexing of information on all other sites. These sites allow a user to search

the web for any word or combination of words for information resources on the web.

A search engine is a computer program that searches documents on the Internet containing

terms being searched by a user. A search engine can be defined as a tool for finding,

classifying and storing information on various websites on the Internet. It can help in

locating information of relevance on a particular subject by using various search methods.

It is a service that indexes, organises, and often rates and reviews websites. It helps users

to find the proverbial needle in the Internet haystack. Different search engines work in

different ways. Some rely on people to maintain a catalogue of websites or web pages;

others use software to identify key information on sites across the Internet. Some combine

both types of service. Searching Internet with different search engines for the same topic,

therefore, provides different results. Fig.13.1 shows number of hits for 25 single word

queries conducted on nine search engines. Google found more number of hits than any

other search engine.

Fig. 13.1: Number of Hits for 25 Single Word Queries Conducted on Nine Search Engines.

(Source: http://searchengineshowdown.com/stats/size.shtml)

Search engines are also defined as online utilities that quickly search thousands of web

documents for a word or phrase being searched. Although there are some subscriptionbased

search engines, most of them operate on profits from advertisements. It should be

noted that no single search engine has the contents of every web page on the Internet.

Instead, each search engine defines its scope in terms of contents for web pages that it

would host. Moreover, some search engines index every word on every page. Others

index only a part of the document. Full-text search engines generally pick up every word

in the text except commonly occurring stop words such as ‘a’, ‘an’, ‘the’, ‘is’, ‘and’, ‘or’

and ‘www’. Some of the search engines discriminate upper case from lower case; others

store all words without reference to capitalisation. A user, therefore, gets different results

from different search engines because of these reasons.

Search engines are usually accessed using web clients called web browsers. Each search

engine provides different search options and has its own peculiarities. Search engines

also differ greatly in the types of resources they allow a user to search. Many search

engines offer both search and browse interfaces.

IMPORTANT SEARCH ENGINES

Primary Search Engines

Google (http://www.google.com/)

MSN Search (http://search.msn.com/)

Teoma (http://teoma.com/)

WiseNut (http://wisenut.com/)

Fast Search and Transfer (http://www.fastsearch.com/)

Alta Vista (http://www.altavista.com/)

Go.com (http://www.go.com/)

Lycos (http://www.lycos.com/)

Excite (http://www.excite.com/)

Web Directories

Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com/)

LookSmart (http://www.looksmart.com/)

D MOZ Open Directory Project (http://dmoz.org/)

Galaxy (http://www.galaxy.com/)

Meta Search Engines

WebCrawler (http://www.webcrawler.com/)

HotBot (http:// http://www.hotbot.com/)

MetaCrawler (http://www.metacrawler.com/)

Ask Jeeves (http://www.askjeeves.com)

SavvySearch (http://www.search.com/)

Subject Portals or Subject Gateways

LibrarySpot.com (http://www.libraryspot.com/)

Librarians’ Index to the Internet (LII) (http://lii.org/)

Argus Clearing House (http://www.clearinghouse.net/)

Vlib: The Virtual Library (http://www.vlib.org/)

Academic Info (http://www.academicinfo.com/)

BUBL (http://bubl.ac.uk/)

BIOME (http://biome.ac.uk/)

Edinburgh Engineering Virtual Library (EEVL) (http://www.eevl.ac.uk)

Social Science Information Gateway (SOSIG) (http://sosig.ac.uk/)

Boolean Operators : Boolean operators are used to combine search terms to

construct more complex searches in a database. Using the

Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT can help to expand

or narrow down a search.

FTP : File Transfer Protocol, a common method of moving files

between two Internet sites. FTP is a special way to login to

another Internet site for the purposes of retrieving and / or

sending files. There are many Internet sites that have

established publicly accessible repositories of material that can

be obtained using FTP, by logging in using the account name

anonymous. So, these sites are called anonymous ftp servers.

Yahoo : Acronym for “Yet Another Hierarchical organized Oracle”.

Yahoo is a web directory that categorizes web pages. It is

one of the Internet’s leading search tools.

Truncation : A search technique in which a user adds a symbol (such as *

or ?) to a word stem in order to retrieve multiple endings of

the word. It is also called stemming. For example, child* will

search for child and also children, child’s, childless and any

other words with child as the first five characters.

RESOURCE SHARING - CONCEPT, NEED FORM AND SELECTED CASE STUDIES

CONCEPT OF RESOURCE SHARING

Librarians are very much familiar with library cooperation. The basic purpose of library cooperation was to pool the resources of a group of libraries and use them to their optimum level for the mutual benefit of all the participating (members) institutions. In fact, library cooperation did manifest itself in different forms such as cooperative acquisition, centralised , cataloguing and inter-library loan. All these were aimed at avoiding duplication of efforts on the part of libraries and using the available resources optimally. Especially, interlibrary loan did enhance the ability to, obtain needed materials from other libraries. Thus, library cooperation facilitated access to knowledge within, between and among the libraries.

Resource sharing,: in fact, extends the scope of 'library cooperation to include certain reciprocity and partnership in which each participant has something useful to contribute as well as to receive from others. There is a willingness and also the capability to make it available when required. Efforts were made during the 1950's and 1960's to formalise the concept of resource sharing largely because of inadequate library budgets and the sudden spurt in the cost of books and subscription of periodicals.

Definition

Allen Kent provides descriptions to some of the concepts associated with resource sharing in the following terms:

Resource sharing in libraries is defined as a mode of operation whereby functions are, shared in common by a number of libraries in its most positive effects: Resource sharing entails reciprocity, employing partnership in which each member has something useful to contribute to others and in which every member is willing and able to make available when needed. The term 'Resource' is used to designate any or all of the materials, functions, services and the expertise of the professional and non-professional staff. Resource implies a thing, a person or an action to which one turns for aid and help in time of need.

Secondly; the term ‘Sharing’ implies aportioning, allotting or contributing something that is owned to benefit others: It implies partnership for mutual benefit.

Library Resources encompass print and non-print materials as well as human resources that are eligible to be shared in ways that enhance the quality of service.

With the elaborate explanation as provided by Allen Kent, it must be easy for: any one to understand the meaning as well as the significance of the concept of "Resource Sharing": Obviously, it does not mean that individual identity of participating libraries would be affected in any way. In fact, the gains of resource sharing are to be achieved without in any way adversely affecting the objectives or interests of the participating libraries.

However, there might be situations that may call for minor adjustments with regard to methods of operation.

CALIBNET

CALIBNET was sponsored by NISSAT which initiated the action for the preparation of a : feasibility report by CMC.According to the feasibility report, CALIBNET 'was to be network of 40 libraries. If was to be developed in two phases: NISSAT provided funds for the development of software package (MAITRAYEE) based on INGRESS 502 for CALIBNET. The package was developed by CMC Ltd:

Details regarding the total quantity of machine-readable data produced by different participating libraries using MAITRAYEE package of software are not readily available. It is understood that CALIBNET is providing access to INTERNET and is offering CD-ROM database searching facility. Whether CALIBNET has started the creation of a union catalogue far the books available in the participating libraries is not known.

It appears that CALIBNET has not vet developed itself into a resource sharing network of libraries in Calcutta as was envisaged. A full picture of CALIBNET and the value-added products it has developed so far to aid the resource sharing activity by libraries in Calcutta has yet to emerge. Only then; its achievements can be evaluated critically in the real sense.

Automation:     The organisation of machine handling of routines or operations, requiring minimal human intervention.    

    

Document Delivery Service:     The process of supplying the relevant documents on a specific topic to the user.       

Electronic Mail:     The transfer of messages, memoronda, letters, reports, etc. between individuals or organisations by the use of Videotex, online, online networks.       

Gateway:     A system which permits users of one computer system to access another computer.       

Inter- Library Loan (ILL):     A library activity which lends on loan documents required by other library users.       

Network:     A system of physically separate computers with telecommunication links allowing the resources of each participating machine to be showed by each of the other members. If such a network is used for sharing library esources it is known as Library Resource Sharing Network.       

OPAC:     On line Public Access Catalogue (an automated catalogue system stored in machine-readable from and accessed online by the library clientele via a VDU employing a User-friendly software.       

Resource Sharing:     A sort of agreement amongst participating libraries wherein each participant is willing to spare its resources with other members and in turn it is privileged to share the resources of other participant members as and when the need arises.    

 RESOURCE SHARING NETWORKS

OCLC (Online Computer Library Centre)

Calcutta Library Network (CALIBNET)

NISSAT (National Information System for Science and Technology)

The package named MAITRAYEE was developed and handed over to CALIBNET.

machine-readable catalogue records (MARC)

CALIBNET (Calcutta Library Network)     : A network of Calcutta Libraries for resource sharing       

Client     : A network node which is more concerned with presentation and display to the user, and which is able to work with the specialist services of a server node elsewhere on the network       

Computer Network     : An assemblage of computer systems linked together by common set of protocols for data communications.       

Connectivity     : The ability to interconnect computer systems and networks for the exchange of information.       

DELNET     : Delhi Network of libraries. A bibliographic resource sharing library network of libraries in Delhi       

INFLIBNET     : Information and Library Network. A resource sharing network among academic libraries.       

Information Network     : A network for the exchange of information often via one or more computer networks between human participants. Information networking is concerned with end-user communication and access to networked information services not in any way mediated by the library.       

Inter-Library Loan (ILL) :     : A library activity which lends on loan documents required by other library users.       

Library Networking     :is the use of computer networking to support all forms of communication between libraries, between libraries and their users and between libraries and their suppliers    

 

Modem     :A hardware device for translating between digital computer and analogue telephone signals    

 

OCLC     : Online Library Computer Centre: a large US-based bibliographic network active in library networking.       

Resource Sharing     : A sort of agreement amongst participating libraries wherein each participant is willing to share its resources with other members and in turn is privileged to share the, resources of other participant members as and when need arises.       

Server     : A node on a network which provides a particular service for other nodes, for example access to files, or database records, management of mail messages, etc. A server node is accessed through a client node       

Terminal Networks     : A computer network built in a star topology in which many terminals are connected to a central computer system.    

DATABASE: CONCEPT AND

COMPONENTS

Bibliographic Database

A collection of bibliographic records in a machine-readable form.

Typical databases include surrogates (i.e. author’s name, title,

abstract, etc) of library holdings or published journal articles.

Bibliographic Record

A collection of bibliographic data fields treated as one logical entity

that describes a specific bibliographic item.

Database

Refers generally a machine-readable file of records but may be used

more specifically to refer a shared collection of structured data

managed by a set of special software.

Database Management Systems (DBMS)

The software used to manipulate and access data stored in database.

A DBMS is generally designed to provide facilities for the

maintenance of and access to structured data. The characteristics

of data can be clearly defined with the help of a DBMS.

Field

Collection of data elements that together make up a unit of

information. A field contains data elements such as the name of the

author, title of the document, imprint, etc.

File

An organised collection of information and may consist of a set of

logical records. It may be a named collection of computer records,

usually with common attributes. A file may be stored and recalled

as one unit by name.

Format: Structuring of fields in a record.

MARC Format : A bibliographic record format that has been devised for the MARC

project.

Record

A collection of fields that form a logically related and discrete unit of

information. For example, information regarding a library user

constitutes a personal record.

DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Database Management System (DBMS)

Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS)

SQL (structured query language)

Management Information Systems (MIS)