Changing Trends In LIS

A national seminar on `Changing Trends in Library and Information Science' organised by the University Library, during January 8-9, 1998 at Cochin University of Science and Technology and co-sponsored by the Kerala Library Professionals Organisation (KELPRO), was the first of its kind in the University.

In his inaugural address, Dr. K. Babu Joseph, Vice Chancellor, Cochin University of Science & Technology referred to the adoption of a long term Dutch-aided project to completely automate the Cochin University of Science & Technology Library system and establish a network. He also urged the industries to make use of the new information resources that will be made available from the library. Earlier in her welcome address, Dr. M.D. Baby, Dy Librarian-incharge, Cochin University Library pointed out that the library and information profession has been facing not only the challenge of coping with the emerging information technology but also the challenges of storage and maintenance of huge mass of information, the increasing cost of documents, especially journals, etc. In his keynote address, Prof. K.S. Raghavan, Professor and Head of the Department of Library and Information Science, Madras University referred to the advances in telecommunication and technology. He pointed out that the library and information profession in the country did not take advantage of the data communication networks and did little to develop database of resources available within the country. He also stressed that libraries will be increasingly regarded as facilitators of access to information rather than as a storehouse of information material.

Some of the major recommendations, evolved in the light of the papers presented and discussion held thereafter, are as follows 

• The card form of catalogue is being replaced by computerised catalogue. But in India for the sake of providing a reliable back up, card catalogue will have to be retained for some more time.

• Library science education in the country should be attuned to mould library professionals who can take up new challenges.

• As information has become a vital resource in determining the power of nations, it is the responsibility of the developing nations too, to develop information base so that the gap between developed and developing countries can be reduced.

• Immediate step should be taken to convince the government to spell out a `National Information Policy' to help uniform development of information technology in India.

• New media of information particularly CDROM and access to online sources need to be encouraged in libraries.

• Providing access to information is possible by developing an Intranet and linking the same to Internet to meet the information requirements of the users..

• To make communication process very flexible the library is the appropriate place to introduce Internet based information retrieval.

• Institutions should take immediate steps to develop union catalogues of the collections available so that all the resources can be put to optimum use.

Modern Technologies for Information Handling

A five-day National Training Course on Modern Technologies for Information Handling was held at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi in association with Medical Library Association of India from 19-23 January 1998. Dr. R.P. Kumar, the Chief Librarian of the Institute was the Coordinator of the training. The main focus of the training was on the practical and theoretical aspects of automation of the libraries, online searching, CD-ROM and CD-networking, multimedia, digital libraries, electronic publishing and Internet, etc. Prof. M.C. Maheshwari, the Dean of the Institute while inaugurating the training programme emphasised the need and importance of such courses in the context of the explosion of knowledge and information and its retrieval through modern technologies . He also desired the organisation of more such courses not only at the national level but also extending their scope to the SAARC countries. In his keynote address Mr. P. Jayarajan, Head, Library and Information Services, British Council spoke about the use of available computer technologies in various fields specially in the field of the libraries. He also stressed on the necessity of focusing library services towards meeting the specific needs and the requirements of the readers of the library. Earlier Dr. R.P. Kumar, the coordinator gave an overview about the training and its scope. On 23 January 1998 at the end of the training, Mr. D.R. Kalia, an eminent library scientist and ex-unesco expert distributed the certificates to the participants. He stressed the necessity of applying latest technologies in the libraries for their smooth functioning. Prof. A.P. Srivastava, the former Librarian of Delhi University in his valedictory address stressed the need of cooperation between libraries in sharing their resources in view of the steep rise in the cost of books and periodicals. He hoped that such type of trainings will continue to be organized by the AIIMS Library as part of its continuing education programmes.

Calculator Holds E-Mail address

A calculator that stores electronic mail addresses will hit the market soon in response to the increasing number of Internet users. Aurora company's 'OTM200J is capable of registering up to 24 sets of telephone numbers and e-mail addresses. Featuring a calendar dated upto 2099, the 12-digit calculator offers an alarm clock that displays the time for 24 countries. It also has a conversion feature for preset currencies.

Source: Dr. VT Chitnis, Counsellor (S &T), Embassy of India, Tokyo

Internet Mail Service

The Ministry of Posts and Tele communications, Japan started their "New Computer Mail" service which allows users to send mail through the Internet. Users, through their home or office PCs, will be able to send mail documents through the financial institutions' postal service. The Nihombashi Post Office in Tokyo will print out the messages, insert them in envelopes and send them along. The service accepts credit cards, and an A-4-sized one-page message costs 110 yen. The URL for the postal service centre's web site is http://www.furusato -tayori.or.jp/.

Source: Dr VT Chitnis, Counsellor (S&T), Embassy of India, Tokyo

Doctors Make House Calls via Internet

As in many corners of the society, the Internet is changing the face of health care. Now, instead of browsing through year-old magazines in the waiting room, people can browse the World Wide Web to help cure what ails them. Kanematsu Corp., a major trading house, last year launched Health Scramble (http ://www.health.co.jp), an information service through which Japanese can locate hospitals and explore reference materials on such topics as nursing care, family and female health issues, and common ailments such as the flu. They can also test their physical fitness by taking a 30-question health quiz. "This is health service for everyone — patients, doctors, students and medical industries," said Toshihiro Kimura, general manager of the network-business department at Kanematsu. Some information in health scramble is, in fact, very technical and includes thesis on new medical treatments and medications. Fuji Tatemono Kanri, a Tokyo company offers maintenance services to hospitals and insurance companies. Member hospitals can access each company's home page via Tokyo Medical's Web site at http://www.mid-info.com. All shops will accept orders via electronic mail. Shops save time because they don't need to send sales people to hospitals.Customers, meanwhile, can receive special discounts when using the service. Member hospitals will be charged about Yen 100,000 ($826) for site design, about 1/3rd the average cost for such services. "The Internet creates a new distribution channel for the health industry". "Patients can get closer to doctors and vice versa."

Source: Dr. VT Chitnis, Counsellor (S&T), Embassy of India, Tokyo

Japanese-English Translation Tool

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. has compiled an electronic dictionary for Japanese-English machine translation systems. The dictionary contains about 400,000 entries, compared to some 200,000 entries for the largest such dictionary now available. The NTT directory is designed to improve software-based translations, which are becoming more common as the Internet becomes more popular. Electronic dictionaries are databases that contain model sentences and translation capabilites and are often used in machine translation. In theory, the more entries the dictionary contains, the more accurate the translation. But as the number of entries increases, so do the number of homonyms, which actually increases the chances of error. NTT attemps to solve this problem by having its dictionary select English translations from about 3000 model noun phrases that put the target word or phrase into context.

Source: Dr. VT Chitnis, Counsellor (S&T), Embassy of India, Tokyo

Fingerprint Becomes Password of the Future

Imagine a world in which you do not have to remember passwords or worry about them falling into the wrong hands.

According to the International Herald Tribune, Digital Personal Inc. of Redwood City, California, it has a system for personal computers that makes the user's fingerprint the password. The company, which develops identification systems based on personal characteristics, claims that its newest program, called U are U, provides foolproof data security with the touch of a finger at a cost of less than $100 per user. The device is about as big as a travel clock and has a small screen to read thumbprints. When connected to a computer, it allows access to a network, such as the Internet or a corporate intranet, only to authorised users. The system is compatible with Microsoft's Windows 95 and NT operating systems.

Voice-recognition technology has been under intensive development for several years, but its applications have been limited even on prowerful desktop computers. Now, Advanced Recognition Technologies Inc. claims to have written software that allows hand-held computers that are based on the new version of Microsoft's system, Windows CE 2.0, to understand human speech. The software, called Smart Command, allows users to tell their computers to perform simple task, such as opening other programs.

Advanced Recognition is working with developers to bring this technology to cellular phones as well, so that users who are driving cars will be able to request phone numbers while keeping their hands on the steering wheel..

Source: The Times of India 13 Dec. 1997