Chapter 9

9.0 !ntroduction

In this chapter the major findings of the study are given. The main

objective of the study is to design a National Information System for Ayurveda

which will satisfy the needs of the information users in Ayurveda. In order to

carry out the designing of the information system the infrastructure available

in various libraries and information centres attached to the various Ayurveda

institutions in india and the information needs of the various categories of

users in Ayurveda were studied in detaii. To conduct these surveys the

questionnaire and interview methods were used. in order to coiiect the

background information such as genesis and deveiopment of Ayurveda and

other Indian systems of medicine, institutionai infrastructure of these medicai

systems, ieiated nationai and inteinatiorHl1 information systems and iibie:tiy

networks etc. the iiterature survey method was mainly used. Based on the

findings and inferences of these surveys the National Information System for

Ayurveda was designed. A biief sLimmaiY of the sLiivey iesults and the

stiuctLiie and fUlictions of the infoimatioil system designed aie piesented

"'_1_ ...IJCIVVY.

9.1 Genesis, development and basic principles of Ayurveda

The exact origin of Ayurveda is lost in the mist of antiquity. Hindu

mythology attributes a divine origin for Ayurveda. The Vedas, especially the

Atharvaveda contains hymns on formulations for the Ayurveda treatment.

Ayurveda is even treated as the upaveda, or accessory Veda to the

Atharvaveda by many scholars. in the remains of the Harappan civiiization

also were found some substances such as deer antier and bitumen, which

were used in ciassicai Ayurveda. We can consider Ayurveda as a medicai

system which evoived out of the great power of observation, generaiization

and anaiysis, combined with patient iabour of hundreds of investigators spread

over thousands of years.

The 'Athreya Samhita' is considered the oldest known Ayurveda medical

text now extant. The' Charaka Samhita' compiled by Charaka at the turn of the

first millennium Be, is still the most important of all Ayurvedic texts that have

appeared so far. Ayurveda's most famous text on surgical treatment is

'Sushruta Samhita' compiled by Sushruta. Some of the famous Ayurveda texts

of the ancient period include Ashtanga Samgraha, Ashtanga Hridaya, Madhava

Nidhana, Sharangadhara Samhita and Bhavaprakasha.

The basic principles of Ayurveda are Panchabhootha Siddantam, Thridosha

Siddantam and Saptha dhatu Siddantam. Some commonly used therapies in

Ayurveda are Snehana (unctuous therapy). Svedana (Sweat therapy) and

10Q

Panchakarma. The ingredients of ayurvedic medicine falls mainly into three

categories. The first and most important one are those coming from the

vegetable kingdom. Eighty percent of the total medicinal ingredients belong to

this category. The other two categories are those from the animal kingdom and

from the minerai kingdom.

The indigenous medical systems practised, other than Ayurveda, in India

are Unani. Siddha. Yoga. Naturopathy and Amchi. Th.e Unani system

originated in Greece and flourished in India during the Mughal period. The

Siddha system is known as the medical system of the dravidian culture and

originated and was practiced in south india, especiaily in Tamii Nadu.

Naturopathy is known as the drugiess medicai system. its fundamentai

principies were derived from the phiiosophicai system of ancient india. Yoga is

not basicaiiy a medicai system, it is a means for controiiing the body and mind

and thereby achieving spirituai heights and eternai joy. The different physicai

postures and breathing exercises in Yoga can be used judiciousiy for

thtHapeutic purpose. Amchi is basicaiiy the Tibetan Jiiedicai systern which IS

practiced in the Himaiayan regions In india. it has Its roots in Ayurveda.

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The major institutional infrastructure of Ayurveda includes institutions for

research. education and treatment. For the government level administration. at

the centre there is a department of Indian systems of medicine and

homeopathy under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. At the state

110

level there are directorates and lor departments of Indian systems of medicine

generally under the control of the Minister of Health and Family Welfare in

each state.

Systematic research in Ayurveda under the patronage of the Government

of India started in 1969 with the establishment of the Central Council for

Research in Indian Medicine and Homeopathy (CCRIMH). In the year 1978 the

CCRIMH was split into four separate councils. One of them. the Central

Councii for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha (CCRAS) is engaged now In

deveioping independent and muiti-dimensionai research in the various

fundamentai and appiied aspects of Ayurveda. Under the CCRAS there are

research organisations at diHerent ieveis iike the indian institutes of

Research, Centrai Research institutes, Regionai Research institutes, Regionai

Research Centres, Research Projects, Research Schemes and Research

Units. There are research institutes under the patronage of state government

and piivaie secior aiso.

The education and training facilities in Ayurveda are presently being

monitored by the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM). There is a

National Institute of Ayurveda at Jaipur. Rajasthan and an Ayurveda University

at jam nagar, Gujarat. There are at present 154 recognized under-graduate

coiieges of Ayurveda in india and 33 post-graduate coliegesiinstitutions

imparting post graduate education in Ayurveda.

As on 1-4-1998 there are 2189 hospitals and 14252 dispensaries for

Ayurveda in India. The total hospital bed strength is 33145. As on 1-1-1999

111

the total number of Avurveda oractitioners in India are 366812 out of which,. • !

270349 are institutionally qualified and the rest are conventional practitioners.

9.3 Re!ated Nationa! and International Information Systems

and Library Networks

At present there is no information system existing in Ayurveda. But there..

are information systems in the related fields like modern medicine and the

biomedical field. Two most important information systems in these fields are

MEDLARS and EMBASE. Both these systems are providing information

services at the internationai ievei through different media iike print, CD-ROM

and On-iine databases.

In India there are various national information systems like National

Information system for Science and Technology (NISSAT). Biotechnology

Information System (BTIS). Environmental Information System (ENVIS) etc.

The information and library networks in India include NICNET, INFlIBNET,

iNDONET, SIRNET, ERNET, DELNET, CALiBNET, BONET, MALiBNET etc. Ali

these information systems and networks in india are at different stages of

deveiopment.

9.4 Present Information Infrastructure availab!e for

Ayurveda H"! India

Data were collected from libraries attached to the CCRAS and various

11?

research institutes, National institute of Ayurveda, Pharmacopoeia laboratory,

Gujarat Ayurveda university. Institute of medical Science department of

Banarus Hindu University and representative samples of Ayurveda colleges .

.The maJor findings of the study are given below:

Among the libraries of the research institutes the only library maintaining

reasonably good standard is the CCRAS library. The libraries attached to the

subsidiary centres of the CCRAS are in a really pathe.tic condition. There are

no iibrary staff in these libraries. Only a smaii coiiection is maintained in these

centres under the charge of a scientist. The coiiection is not ciassified or

cataiogued. The iibrary attached to the Pharmacopoeia iibrary is also not in a

good condition. Here the iibrarian's post is being kept vacant for a long period.

There are oniy iess than 2000 voiumes of books and are not ciassified. The

Nationai institute of Ayurveda iibrary has a coiiection of more than 20,000

voiumes. The coiiection is classified and cataiogued. The Gujarat Ayurveda

University iibrary is the iaigest in coiieciion. it has a coiieciion of 27635 book.s

11000 bound VOIUfl1eS oi periouicais and 2400 dissertations. The library is

using its OWIi scheme to classify the books. But there is no catalogue iii this

libiaiy. The IibiaiY attached to the Institute of Medical Sciences depaitment of

has a collection of about 60,000 books out of which 20,000 are on Ayurveda

and other Indian systems of medicine. The collection is classified and

catalogued. Barring fe';, exceptions the Ayurveda college libraries are not

libraries varies from 7000 to 20,000. Periodical subscription is generally very

poor. !n most cases it is bet'w",een 10 and 15. Out of the 72 libraries studied 23

libraries have not classified their collection. Among the different types of

library services. the only effective service provided by most of these libraries

is the issue of books and periodicals. Many libraries are also providing

reference service at its minimum level. Most of the libraries spend less than

25000 rupees for books and less than 5000 for periodicals annuaiiy.

The survey shows that the Ayurveda libraries in India are generally not

maintaining the standard of good modern day libraries in other subject fields.

The collections are generally poor both quantitatively and qualitatively.

The information on manuscripts is important in Ayurveda and 38 libraries

were found to have a collection of rare books/manuscripts. But there are no

organized efforts to preserve and publish the information in these rare

documents.

Many libraries have not yet classified and catalogued their collection.

Among the libraries which have classified their collection the commonly used

classification systems are CC. DDC or the schemes specially devised by the

individual libraries. The commonly used cataloguing codes are eee and

AACR. The ciassification schedules and lists of subject headings availabie

now are inadequate for technicai processing of Ayurveda documents. That is

the main reason for using specialized schemes and codes for ciassification

and cataioguing in many of the Ayurveda iibraries. Because of this practice

there is no uniformity in the technicai processing of documents in Ayurveda

libraries.

114

The Ayurveda libraries have generally failed to provide modern library and

information services to their users. The majority of libraries still focus on

traditional service, issue and return of books and periodicals. Other services

offered by a few libraries include reference service, reprographY service and

current awareness service. Only one iibrary provides CD-ROM and On-iine

database search faciiity. No library is providing services like SOi, transiation

etc.

Only two libraries were found to be using the computers. Here also all the

sections are not computerised. According to the librarians the main reasons

for not computerising the Ayurveda libraries in India are the negative attitude

of the management. non-availability of sufficient qualified staff with knowledge

in computerisation and inadequacy of the library fund.

Except the CCRAS library no other library have regular publications like

bulletins, newsletters, new additions list etc. The main reason for not

publishing even the new additions list by these libraries is lack of

computerisation.

Except one library no library has interlibrary loan arrangement with other

libraries. There is no union catalogue of Ayurveda libraries. There is no

network of these libraries as well. Each library is functioning as an

independent unit and there IS no uniformity in the practice of technical

processing of documents and providing information services in these libraries.

All the libraries under survey are faced with financial constraints.

Inadequate budget allocation hinders the libraries from maintaining a good

collection and providing modern day information services to the users. Another

problem faced by these libraries is the lack of a sufficient number of qualified

staff members. This is a major reason for the poor services offered by

Ayurveda iibraries in india.

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AVllrvprl~ infnrm~tinn lJ~pr~• 'J-' ._-- •... _ .... _ •. _ .. ---.-

In order to conduct the survey among the users of Ayurveda regarding their

information needs they were divided into various categories like scientists.

teachers, qualified practitioners. traditional practitioners and students. As

their information-needs are different and their accessibility to the libraries and

other information centres are different, separate questionnaires were framed

for each category of users. The study gives the foiiowing resuits.

The information sources generally used by the Ayurveda users are books,

periodicals. seminar volumes. theses and manuscripts. Practitioners of

Ayurveda commonly use books and current periodicals. Members of all

categories were found to use non book materia is. Scientists (61.19%) and

conventionai practitioners (60.65';'/0) are the two categories of users which use

the non book materiais, especiaiiy the manuscripts, heaviiy.

While researchers, teachers and students make use of the libraries

attached to their parent institutions. the majority of the practitioners are not

using libraries regularly. they depend mainly on personal collection of books

and periodicals. Those who are using the libraries are not generally satisfied

with the present iibrary coiiection and the services offered by the iibraries.

Whiie 43.28% of the scientists, 22.97\ilo of the teachers and 36.84% of the

students think that the present iibrary services are inadequate, 49.25% of the

scientists, 56.75% of the teachers and 32.89% of the students think that these

services are partiaiiy adequate. Additional services expected by them are

information search, iiterature search, bibiiography compiiation, computerised

caiaiogut:s a(td CD-ROM and On-iint: daiauast: st:afCr't faciiiiit:s.

All the scientists, 93.24% of the teachers, 81.69% of the doctors, 45.9% of

the conventional practitioners and 60.52% of the students are facing the

difficulty of not getting the right information at the right time.

The majority of the users viz. scientists, teachers, qualified practitioners

and students are regular readers of journals. While a major share of scientists

(64.17%) shows interest in reading the literature from other Indian systems of

medicine. only a small group from other categories shows interest in literature

on other indian systems of medicine. There are reguiar readers of allopathic

journais from different categories of users.

Seminars are an important media for information transfer among the users

in Ayurveda. Seminars are well attended by all the categories of users.

Members from all the categories of users are consulting other qualified and

117

traditional practitioners for practical information. This shows that the presence

of informal communication is prevalent among the Ayurveda users. This

tendency is most prevalent among the traditional practitioners. 75.4% of the

traditional practitioners are consulting each other for practical information. A

major share of the scientists, teachers and practitioners are members of some

common forum for sharing practicai information. At the same time members

from different categories of Ayurveda users compiained that there is

~eiuctance from the part of Ayurveda practitioners in reveaiing rare formuias of

treatment, especiaiiy the practice of "ottamooiies".

The practice of specific treatment measures (ottamoolies etc.) not

commonly practiced by every practitioner is prevalent in Ayurveda. 72.13 % of

the traditional practitioners. 40.29% of the scientists. 28.37% of the teachers.

25.35% of the qualified practitioners and 23.68% of the students showed

interest in these specific treatments.

A small' group each from different categories of users except students

claimed to have developed new drug formulations for treating their patients.

But in most cases they were not manufacturing it on commercial basis.

Members from all categories, especially the traditional practitioners

possess rare documents in their personal collection. Many of them are willing

to share it with their colleagues and to provide a copy of them to a national

information system, if organised.

11R

All the scientists, teachers, doctors, students and 96.72% of the traditional

practitioners think that a National Information system for Ayurveda is essential

in India.

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Infnrm~tinn ~v~tAm fnr A VII rVArl ~..•. _ ...• _ •• _ •• -J-'-'" ._ •. 'J-' ._--

In the light of the studies conducted on the information infrastructure

available in Ayurveda and the information needs and use-pattern of users of

Ayurveda an Indian National Information System for Ayurveda (INISA) has

been designed. The functions of the INiSA are mainly derived from the opinion

of users expressed in questionnaires and interviews.

While designing the INISA the important features of the Ayurveda

information scenario such as lack of good libraries and information centres

with modern facilities. lack of bibliographic control. lack of tools for technical

processing, reluctance in publishing the information, multilingual nature of

information, inadequate finance etc. were considered.

9.6.1 Design and structure of INISA

The IN ISA will have the following levels of organization in the order of

hierarchy

• National Information Centre

11<)

• Regional Information Centres

• State Information Centres

• Local Information Centres

• User nodal points

The National Information Centre (NIC) will be the apex body. It will be

located in CCRAS. New Delhi. The NIC will be the administrative headquarters

of the INISA. The main database will be maintained in the master computer

kept at the NIC.

There will be four Regional Information Centres (RICs) one each for the

north, south, east and west which will be located at the CCRAS' Central

Research Institute at New Delhi. Regional Research Centre at Bangalore

Regional Research Institute at Kolkatha and the Central Research Institute at

Mumbai respectiveiy. The RiCs wiii evaiuate the information received from the

subsidiary centres and the usefui information wiii be technicaiiy processed and

send to the NiC. The RiCs wiii aiso maintain a regionai database.

Each state will have a State Information Centre (SIC). It will be located in

any of the CCRAS Research centre in the state, if they exist or some other

Ayurveda institutions like the state level research institutes or Ayurveda

college can be identified as the SIC. The SIC will coordinate the activities of

the Local information Centres in the state. it wiii evaiuate the information

coiiected from the state and wiii send to the concerned RiC. The SiC wiii aiso

maintain a state ievei database.

1?()

Under the State Information Centre there will be a number of L1Cs. The L1C

will be developed one each for a district or for two or more districts depending

upon the prevalence of Ayurveda in that area. Depending upon the availability

the CCRAS research centres. state level research centres. Ayurveda colleges.

Ayurveda hospitals, dispensaries etc. can be spotted as the iocation for Lie.

The Lies wiii conduct surveys to coiiect rare information possessed by

individuais and traditionai Vaidya famiiies in its area. it wiii aiso conduct

surveys to identify and record the medicinai fiora and fauna in its area. Aii the

information coiiected wiii be transferred to the concerned SiC. The LiC wiii

aiso maintain a iocai databanK on various aspects of Ayurveda treatment

faciiities avaiiabie in its purview. Other functions of the Lie include

rflaintenance of a good library, herbariu IT), museum of medicinaiiy irflpodant

anirnals and a medicinai garden.

The ultimate users of the online version of the INISA database are at the

nodal points. Any Ayurveda institution or user can be the clientele of the

INISA database. The infrastructure for taking the INISA online connection such

as the computer. modem. telephone connection etc. is to be established by the

clienteie.

All the INISA information centres and nodal points are to be linked to each

other through computer/telecommunication networks and the INISA database

is to be accessible to all the approved users.

1?1

9.6.2 Various products and functions of INISA

The most important function of the INISA is the creation and maintenance

of the INISA database which collects all the relevant information in the field of

Ayurveda. On this database on-line search facility can be provided to the

users. Its print and CD-ROM versions should also be published.

In order to collect information on Ayurveda and related sUbject fields the

INISA should conduct extensive surveys. The important among them are those

to find out rare medical information. su rvey of medicinal flora and fauna and

survey on Ayurvedic educational and treatment facilities.

The INISA should strengthen the existing Ayurveda library system. It

should establish a National Ayurveda Library at its NIC. Regional Ayurveda

Libraries at its RICs. State Ayurveda Libraries at its SICs and Local Ayurveda

Libraries at its LICs. The INISA should also try for the promotion of resource

sharing among Ayurveda libraries.

Using the database and resources of the libraries attached to the INISA, it

should provide information services like Current Awareness Service. Selective

Dissemination of Information. Indexing and Abstracting Services. Literature

Survey, Reference Service, Document Delivery Service, Translation Service,

Reprography Service etc. to the Ayurveda users.

Other important services to be provided by INISA are

111

• Patent information service

• Consultation service to library and information centres, cultivators of

medi~inal plants. to the Ayurvedic information users and to the

patients.

• Preparation of technical processing tools for Ayurveda documents.

• Training programmes for library staff and users.

• Programmes for the propaganda of Ayurveda.

• Creation of web site in Internet.

9.6.3 Future development prospects of INISA

The main future development prospects for INISA are

i. development of INISA as an International Information System

ii. expansion of INISA as a National Information System for all Indian

systems of Medicine.

171

9.7 Conclusion

The preliminary chapters of the work gives an idea about the genesis,

development. history. basic principles etc. of Ayurveda and other Indian

Systems of Medicine. There is also a detailed description of the institutional

infrastructure avaiiable for research, education and treatment in these subject

fields.

The objectives of the study were:

i. To study the infrastructure available in libraries and information

centres attached to the various Ayurveda institutions in India:

ii. To study the information needs of the various categories of users in

Ayurveda such as qualified and conventional practitioners. scientists.

teachers and students.

iii. To assess whether the present information infrastructure available in

Ayurveda is adequate to satisfy the needs of the users or not: and

iv. Based on the assessment made on the above objectives designing a

National Information System for Ayurveda which will satisfy the needs

of the information users in Ayurveda.

174

The survey results given in the chapter titled "Present information

infrastructure available in Ayurveda" substantiate the first objective. The

second objective of the study is sUbstantiated though the survey results given

in the chapter titled Mlnformation needs and information seeking behaviour of

Ayurvedic information users". These two anaiysis chapters together

substantiate the third objective. The resuits of the anaiysis cieariy states that

the present information infrastructure is inadequate to satisfy the needs of the

Ayurveda users. The chapter titied ~indian Nationai information System for

Ayurveda (iNiSA): Design, Structure and Functions meets the fourth

objective.

The two hypotheses, which led to the present study, were

• the present information infrastructure available in Ayurveda in India

is not satisfactory and is inadequate to meet the information needs of

the users

• the present institutional and information infrastructure are not

coordinated and organized. which calls for the design of a national

information system for an effective and efficient information services

in Ayurveda in India.

The results of the surveys mentioned above clearly substantiate the

validity of the hypotheses formulated in the study and led to the designing of a

National Information System for Ayurveda which will satisfy the needs of the

information users in Ayurveda.

Here the study was carried out an all-India basis so the peculiar features

of the information infrastructure and user-needs at the micro level. which is

valid for individual states and localities were not studied in detail. Further

research is possible in this sUbject as the prevalence of Ayurveda and the

specific needs of the iocai users of Ayurveda in individuai states and iocaiities

can be studied in detaiL Based on the above the speciai functions need to be

carried out, jj any, oj the SiCs and LiCs oj the iNiSA in the concerned

iocaiities can be dejined. Research is aiso possibie on the economic aspects

invoived in the impiementation of the iNiSA project. The future deveiopment

prospects for iNiSA are to deveiop it as an internationai information System

and to expand it as a Nationai iMolr"nation Syster"fl fOl aii indian Syster"fls of

Medicine. Here aiso further researci-I is needed to irnpiernent tl-.ese

development plans.

In this study, the design, structure and functions of a National Information

system for Ayurveda is proposed. If implemented it will be a right step for the

future development of Ayurveda. an age-old medical system that has proven

the test of the time.