|
The Chaudhury
Charan Singh Cyberary at MANAGE
A novel concept and a new center of learning is the
Cyberary, which integrates the services of Information Technology and the
Library to provide a single point access to information irrespective of the form
in which it exists. Aptly named after Chaudhury Charan Singh, a farmers’
friend who struggled for the uplift
of the farmers and the rural economy, the cyberary is a point for information
acess and connectivity for the literate, semi-literate and illiterate alike.
The Cyberary integrates
state of the art information technology with traditional services bringing
together all the modes of the information system available in MANAGE into one
integrated system. The focus is on providing a gateway for clients, to access
information resources as well as network with the whole world on the Internet
and through Videonet.
The Cyberary is open from 9am to 2
pm on all days. The Centre renders a wide range of facilities using the latest
information technology for access to and use of information in the conduct of
professional work.
Information Access and Delivery services
Information resources include a collection of 10,000 Books,
170 journals, 300 CDs and 375
Videos on various aspects of agriculture and management. With online information becoming the preferred means to access
information, the centre has also been subscribing to a number of databases and
multimedia management packages. Electronic databases include AGRIS from FAO,
AGRICOLA of the US National Agricultural Library, TROPAG & RURAL from Royal
Tropical Institute, CABSAC from CABI, EXIM, PROWESS, IBID India Trades and a
number of Multimedia CDs on
management aspects. Many activities of the Cyberary have been automated. The
catalogue of books, journals and a database of articles of interest is available
over the institute LAN.
Services include provision of
training, educational and research material
in a variety of formats; access to information and assistance in the use
of information resources; reference
services, literature search services, bibliographic services by retrieving
information from in-house database, database on CDs and Internet, loans of
materials, interlibrary loan services and
personalized information services. Development of a database of books and
articles scanned from current literature is an on-going activity of this centre.
Articles, of interest to research and training activities at MANAGE, are
abstracted and made available to Faculty through the OPAC.
The centre also offers literature search services,
bibliographic services.
Information Technology Services
A well equipped information
technology centre with a 100 systems connected to 128 kbps leased lines with 24
hrs connectivity and a videoconferencing facility is available in the Cyberary
providing a gateway to access information resources as well as network
with the whole world on the Internet and the videonet. The videoconferencing network
facilitates communication with nodal centers under the NATP, Agriclinics and
Agribusiness centers scheme and other institutions.
Publications
As a part of information
dissemination and publication activity a number of publications are brought out,
on aspects such as Natural Resource
Management, Agribusiness management, Public Extension management,
Agripreneurship, Cyber Extension, and related areas on a regular basis.
These publications are circulated among policy makers, senior administrators,
scientists of central and state governments, district, state, national and
international organizations connected with agriculture and extension management.
Many of these are available full text on
the website at www.manage.gov.in.
Website management
The MANAGE website
at www.manage.gov.in provides an
interface to all collections and services. The
site has registered over 3.00 lakh clicks in the last one year.
Internet-based
Library Services include links to important web sites; databases; Electronic
journals; Library catalogues, discussion forums etc. In addition to the MANAGE
website, the centre has also hosted
websites of over 22 other institutions including the Livelihood Options site of
the Overseas Development Institute(ODI) which also hosts a discussion Forum on
the site.
Training
The center organizes training programmes for library
managers, and information scientists on new technology applications for
information management, networking through information systems, Internet for
information and communication where participants are given an orientation to
information technology applications. The center also conducts training
programmes organized for farmers and rural women from self-help groups to orient
them to the use of new technology to met their information needs.
Networking
with Agricultural Information Centres
The Centre is making attempts to
establish linkages with agricultural research, extension and training
institutions to enable information sharing. A number of agricultural research ,
extension and training organisations have their home pages on the MANAGE site.
The Cyberary is a point for access
to information and a facilitating platform for communication and information
exchange, bringing together policy makers, extension managers, scientists and
farmers.
|
