Anup Kumar Das

Open Access and Institutional Repositories -A Developing Country Perspective : a case study of India

Open access facilitates the availability and distribution of scholarly communication freely, as a means and effort to solve the problem of inaccessibility, primarily due to financial constraints, particularly in the developing countries. In India there has been a gradual realization of the usefulness of open access among various institutions. Various open access initiatives have been undertaken and are operational. Many are in the developmental stage. Some initiatives have also been taken in the area of metadata harvesting services particularly public funded ones. The future of open access in India is dependent upon a proper policy and developing a proper framework. In the implementation of open access, LIS professionals should play a proactive role in the growth of collections in institutional repositories. The paper provides an overview about the present state of open access initiatives by various institutions of the country.

Emergence of open educational resources (OER) in India and its impact on lifelong learning

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the evolution of open educational resources OER initiatives in India – how OER movement emerges from the open access movement in the backdrop of an emerging knowledge‐based economy. This paper also illustrates how OER help in democratizing lifelong learning spaces that eventually help in skills development.Design/methodology/approach – This paper primarily uses baseline surveys and recommendations of different working groups of Indian National Knowledge Commission. Relevant policy instruments of the Ministry of Human Resources Development, UNESCO, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions and other national and international bodies are also critically examined to understand Indias stand on OER in comparison with other promising developing countries. This paper analyses impact of OER on Indian systems of education, ranging from lifelong learning, technical and vocational education and training to higher education systems....

Open Access to Knowledge and Information: Scholarly Literature and Digital Library Initiatives – the South Asian Scenario

The South Asia sub-region is now in the forefront of the Open Access movement within developing countries in the world, with India being the most prominent partner in terms of its successful Open Access and Digital Library initiatives. Institutional and policy frameworks in India also facilitate innovative solutions for increasing international visibility and accessibility of scholarly literature and documentary heritage in this country. This publication has its genesis in the recommendations and proceedings of UNESCO-supported international conferences and workshops including the 4th International Conference of Asian Digital Libraries (ICADL2001, Bangalore); the International Conferences on Digital Libraries (ICDL2004 & ICDL2006, New Delhi); and the International Workshop on Greenstone Digital Library Software (2006, Kozhikode), where many information professionals of this sub-region demonstrated their Digital Library and Open Access initiatives. This book describes successful digital library and open access initiatives in the South Asia sub-region that are available in the forms of open courseware, open access journals, metadata harvesting services, national-level open access repositories and institutional repositories. This book may be considered an authoritative Source-book on Open Access development in this sub-region.

Information retrieval features in Indian digital libraries: a critical appraisal

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the present situation in the development of indigenous digital libraries in India. The study aims to evaluate different retrieval features of Indian digital libraries, especially those provide access to multilingual and multimedia documents.Design/methodology/approach – For this study, eight digital libraries originated in India, which are available in 24×7 timeframe and accessible worldwide through the internet, have been identified and selected. The retrieval features and other information on these digital libraries have been collected mostly from their respective websites and from other published literature, annual reports, etc.Findings – The paper finds that Indian digital libraries provide universal access to informative and culturally rich digital content related to South Asian region. The digitisation efforts in Indian institutions make these digital libraries operational.Research limitations/implications – The institutional repositories and open acc...

Indian Citation Index: a new web platform for measuring performance of Indian research periodicals

Purpose – With a sustainable knowledge economy in the backdrop, India has seen an exponential growth of academic and sponsored research programmes across all major disciplines. There has been an exponential proliferation of Indian research journals to disseminate results of research carried out in India, by Indian researchers, from collaborative global research programmes. This paper aims to briefly describe a new initiative, the Indian Citation Index (ICI), which is a web‐based citation database of India‐based or India‐focused research journals.Design/methodology/approach – This paper gives a glimpse of the new ICI initiative. It briefly describes its promises and coverage. This paper is based on data available in the ICI portal and its information brochure.Findings – The ICI has made an attempt to create a web‐based citation database covering a whole range of disciplines, i.e. sciences, technologies, social sciences and humanities. This paper also identifies similar initiatives in the past, which failed...

Study of weathering and erosional status of basaltic rocks using remote sensing data

In the present study an attempt has been made in order to evaluate the weathering and erosional status of a part of the Konkan coast stretching between Mumbai and Rajpuri, using IRS-IB, LISS-II data supported by spectral reflectance and thin section study of the rock samples collected from the coastal plains. The study revealed that extensive erosion has been taking place in few pockets along the Konkan Coastal plain, which is evidenced by the presence of more weathered rocks in the coastal plains as compared to that of the hinterland, siltation of the coastal wetlands due to the deposition of eroded materials and high-suspended sediments in the coastal water. The thin section study of the basaltic rock samples collected from the coast also shows evidence of physical and chemical weathering. The lineaments of the coastal tract are found to exist in clusters mostly trending towards NNE—SSW and a few N—S trending, this supports the presence of a N-S trending fault parallel to the Konkan coast along the Western Ghats. It has also been found that remote sensing, in association with other conventional techniques is ideal for such type of studies.

Digital passages: migrant youth 2.0 – diaspora, gender and youth cultural intersections

The book titled ‘Digital Passages: Migrant Youth 2.0 – Diaspora, Gender and Youth Cultural Intersections’ is released amidst the huge influx of refugees and immigrants from the Middle-East and Afri...

Immigration in Singapore

any of the stories here though significant in other South Asian diaspora novels). For the male migrant or exile, the return home might not carry such multiple connotations though it is nevertheless equally traumatic. Maria Antonia Oliver-Rotger offers a theoretical formulation to distinguish (post)colonial narratives of return and American narratives of return. She opines that (post)colonial authors often have a sustained relationship with the communities in their formerly colonized but now independent nations; American writers have to confront the geopolitical tensions existing at present between USA and Cuba, Haiti and Iran to recover their past and return to their roots. To sum up, in the context of twenty-first century political economy of the USA, it is imperative for the secondand third-generation immigrants to re-engage with their imagined or lost homeland and challenge any homogeneous and singular representation of them. This collection is a launching pad to a plethora of issues concerning the American diaspora population today. It has successfully traced the journey of the ethnic communities of America from the trauma of dislocation to multicultural identity politics.

Skills Development for SMEs: Mapping of Key Initiatives in India

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine national skills development initiatives in India as the country embarks on building skilled manpower to meet the demand of SME sectors in the coming decade. This paper identifies two national level programmes namely, National Skill Development Mission (NSDM) and National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) which are implemented by an array of organisations in PPP (public-private partnership) mode. National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), a major actor for NSDM, has identified 21 high-growth sectors and formulated action plan for skills development in those sectors. NRLM’s Aajeevika Skill Development Programme and its sub-schemes ensure skills building of rural youth and help them in coming out of poverty. This paper identifies how skills building of rural youth will lead to job-diversification and lift them out of poverty through placement-linked skills-based jobs. This research paper analyses key national skills development initiatives and how the federal government is making efforts to build skills of marginalised communities as well as helping SME sectors and high growth sectors in bridging projected skills gaps.

Legacy of the Bengal Renaissance in public library development in India

The 19th- and 20th-century Bengal Province in India was a nerve-centre with hosts of socio-cultural and religious reform movements due to its early association with secular liberal western education. Modern institutions of higher learning, established by colonial rulers, European missionaries and contemporary social reformers, led to the awakening of Bengali educated communities. This Bengal Renaissance had contributed towards strengthening production of Bengali literature and the development of the Bengali language. Socially active reformers established community libraries as community learning space in their respective localities. Many century-old libraries are still in existence. These community libraries extended their access to the youth, students, industrial workers and lifelong learners. With this background, this paper aims at in-depth analysis of the legacy of the Bengal Renaissance in the development of public libraries in India during colonial British rule. This paper also looks into the role of the individual reformist genres in the design and delivery of effective public library services and library outreach services in the province.