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.