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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)
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