Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Keynote address: Disciplines, documents and data: emerging roles for libraries in the scholarly information infrastructure
- 3 Denmark's Electronic Research Library: implementation of user-friendly integrated search systems in Denmark
- 4 An African experience in providing a digital library service: the African Virtual University (AVU) example
- 5 Project StORe: expectations, a solution and some predicted impact from opening up the research data portfolio
- 6 Publishing, policy and people: overcoming challenges facing institutional repository development
- 7 Libraries as a social space: enhancing the experience of distance learners using social software
- 8 The rise of recommendation and review: a place in online library environments?
- 9 Re-usable learning objects for information literacy: are they practical?
- 10 An introduction to the LearnHigher Centre for Teaching & Learning (CETL), with particular reference to the information literacy learning area and its work on information literacy audits at Manchester Metropolitan University
- 11 Information skills through electronic environments: considerations, pitfalls and benefits
- 12 Development of information-related competencies in European open and distance learning institutions: selected findings
- 13 Improving information retrieval with dialogue mapping and concept mapping tools
- 14 Public libraries, learning and the creative citizen: a European perspective
- 15 A user-centred approach to the evaluation of digital cultural maps: the case of the VeriaGrid system
- 16 The process of assessment of the quality, usability and impact of electronic services and resources: a Quality Attributes approach
- 17 Reaching the unreachable in India: effective information delivery service model of DELNET and the challenges ahead
- 18 Breaking through the walls: current developments in library service delivery: observations from a Sri Lankan perspective
- 19 Meeting users’ needs online in real-time: a dream of librarians in the developing world
- 20 Information Central: a service success case study
- 21 Discrete library services for international students: how can exclusivity lead to inclusivity?
- 22 Are we ethical? A workshop on the ethical challenges of providing library services to distance learners
- 23 Involving users in a technical solution to help assess the accessibility of websites
- 24 The reality of managing change: the transition to Intute
- Index
17 - Reaching the unreachable in India: effective information delivery service model of DELNET and the challenges ahead
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 June 2018
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Keynote address: Disciplines, documents and data: emerging roles for libraries in the scholarly information infrastructure
- 3 Denmark's Electronic Research Library: implementation of user-friendly integrated search systems in Denmark
- 4 An African experience in providing a digital library service: the African Virtual University (AVU) example
- 5 Project StORe: expectations, a solution and some predicted impact from opening up the research data portfolio
- 6 Publishing, policy and people: overcoming challenges facing institutional repository development
- 7 Libraries as a social space: enhancing the experience of distance learners using social software
- 8 The rise of recommendation and review: a place in online library environments?
- 9 Re-usable learning objects for information literacy: are they practical?
- 10 An introduction to the LearnHigher Centre for Teaching & Learning (CETL), with particular reference to the information literacy learning area and its work on information literacy audits at Manchester Metropolitan University
- 11 Information skills through electronic environments: considerations, pitfalls and benefits
- 12 Development of information-related competencies in European open and distance learning institutions: selected findings
- 13 Improving information retrieval with dialogue mapping and concept mapping tools
- 14 Public libraries, learning and the creative citizen: a European perspective
- 15 A user-centred approach to the evaluation of digital cultural maps: the case of the VeriaGrid system
- 16 The process of assessment of the quality, usability and impact of electronic services and resources: a Quality Attributes approach
- 17 Reaching the unreachable in India: effective information delivery service model of DELNET and the challenges ahead
- 18 Breaking through the walls: current developments in library service delivery: observations from a Sri Lankan perspective
- 19 Meeting users’ needs online in real-time: a dream of librarians in the developing world
- 20 Information Central: a service success case study
- 21 Discrete library services for international students: how can exclusivity lead to inclusivity?
- 22 Are we ethical? A workshop on the ethical challenges of providing library services to distance learners
- 23 Involving users in a technical solution to help assess the accessibility of websites
- 24 The reality of managing change: the transition to Intute
- Index
Summary
Introduction
India has a long history of libraries that were established during the ancient medieval and modern periods. It also has a diverse socio-economic and cultural environment with varying levels of literacy and an uneven spread of ICT infrastructure. It is estimated that about 50,000 libraries exist in India, comprising academic libraries, public libraries, special libraries and libraries attached to research and development institutions, government departments and ministries, industries, etc. The ICT revolution has brought about a radical change in some of the major libraries in India. This technological change is not witnessed uniformly in the wider cross-section of the libraries, as libraries are at varying levels of transformation. They have to use ICT effectively to help the users. The country has also witnessed the growth of library networks during the last 20 years. A number of city library networks were conceptualized through institutional and governmental initiatives but only a few were able to survive. The rest failed to make progress and were shut down.
The paper highlights the pioneering work being done by Developing Library Network (DELNET), a non-governmental, non-profit-making organization supported partly by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of the Government of India. It is a major resource-sharing library network in South Asia, connecting more than 1150 libraries in 30 States and Union Territories (UTs) in India and six other countries (see Tables 17.1–3 and Figure 17.1). DELNET serves its member libraries, which are located within and outside India, and offers inter-library loan/document delivery services (ILL/DDS), one of its most popular services.
Library networking in India
The genesis of library networking in India can be traced back to the late 1980s. The National Information System for Science and Technology (NISSAT), a body under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) of the Government of India, took the initiative of supporting the city-based library networks. This led to the establishment of city library networks such as Bombay Library Network (BONET), Calcutta Library Network (CALIBNET), DELNET (Delhi Library Network, which became Developing Library Network in 2000), Madras Library Network (MALIBNET) and Pune Library Network (PUNENET).
- Type
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- Information
- Libraries Without Walls 7Exploring ‘anywhere, anytime’ delivery of library services, pp. 171 - 180Publisher: FacetPrint publication year: 2008