Indian National Digital Library in Engineering Science and Technology (INDEST): A Proposal for Strategic Cooperation for Consortia-based Access to Electronic Resources

Intl. Inform. & Libr. Rev. (2003), 35, 1^17doi:10.1006/S1057-2317(02)00034-6

Indian National Digital Library inEngineering Science and Technology(INDEST): A Proposal for StrategicCooperation for Consortia-basedAccess to Electronic Resources

JAGDISH ARORA*

ABSTRACT

Cooperation amongst institutions for sharing their libraryresources has been practised for decades. However, the modeof cooperation has been transformed with the infusion ofnew information technology. The emergence of the Internet,particularly the World Wide Web (WWW) as a new infor-mation delivery medium, triggered proliferation of Web-based full-text online resources. An increasing number ofpublishers use the Internet globally to o¡er their publica-tions to the international community of scientists and tech-nologists. The libraries and information centres, as heavyconsumers of electronic journals and online databases, willbene¢t greatly from this technology-driven revolution. Theproliferation of electronic resources in a networked societyhas resulted in the development of ‘‘shared subscriptions’’ or‘‘consortia-based subscriptions’’ to journals everywhere in theworld. Shared subscriptions to electronic resources throughconsortia of libraries is a feasible strategy to meet the pres-sures such as diminishing budgets, increased user demands,and rising costs of journals. This article outlines e¡orts madeby Indian libraries and institutions towards formation ofconsortia of libraries for buying access to electronic re-sources. The proposed strategic cooperation called the‘‘Indian National Digital Library in Engineering Scienceand Technology’’ (INDEST) is based on ¢ve project pro-posals submitted to three major Ministries/Departments of

*Central Library, Computer Applications Division, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas,New Delhi 110 016, India. E-mail: [email protected]

1057-2317/03/$ - see front matter r 2003 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

2 J. ARORA

the Government of India, namely, the Ministry of HumanResource Development (MHRD), the Ministry of Informa-tion Technology (MIT), and the Department of Biotechnol-ogy. The INDEST is proposed to function as a consortium ofengineering and technological libraries for nurturing coredigital collections in engineering and technology. As a con-sortium of libraries, the INDESTwould bring together insti-tutions receiving ¢nancial support from these threeMinistries/Departments of the Government of India. Whilethese Ministries/Departments would provide ¢nancialresources for establishing the consortium and for obtainingcore electronic resources, the participating institutionswould contribute for consortia-based subscriptions. TheINDESTwould host a variety of Web-based digital resourcesincluding those available through national and internationalagencies with consortia and national licences to provideaccess to authorized users in India.

r 2003 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

INTRODUCTION

Cooperation amongst institutions for sharing their library resources hasbeen practised for decades. Traditionally, the primary purpose of estab-lishing a library consortium is to share physical resources, includingbooks and periodicals, amongst members. However, the mode of coop-eration has been transformed with the infusion of new information tech-nology, whether in the print-based environment or the digitalenvironment. The emergence of the Internet, particularly the WorldWide Web (WWW) as a new information delivery medium, triggeredthe proliferation of Web-based full-text online resources. An increasingnumber of publishers use the Internet globally to o¡er their publicationsto the international community of scientists and technologists. The tech-nology provides an unparalleled medium for delivery of informationwith greater speed and economy. The libraries and information centres,as heavy consumers of electronic journals and online databases, stand tobene¢t greatly from this technology-driven revolution. The availabilityof IT-based electronic information products are exerting an ever-increasing pressure on libraries which, in turn, are committing largerportions of their budgetary allocation for either procuring or accessingWeb-based online full-text search services, CD ROM products, andonline databases. The libraries, with their diminishing or at best static¢nancial allocations, have to consider new ways to consolidate global

INDIAN NATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY 3

resources amongst them in order to maximize their limited ¢nancial re-sources. The combination of these developments has resulted in the de-velopment of ‘‘shared subscription’’ or ‘‘consortia-based subscription’’ tojournals everywhere in the world. Shared subscriptions to electronic re-sources through consortia of libraries is a feasible strategy for meetingchallenges such as diminishing budgets, increased user demands, andrising costs of journals.Libraries all over the world are forming consortia of all types and

at all levels, seeking to take advantage of current global networks topromote better, faster, and more cost-e¡ective ways of providing elec-tronic information resources to information seekers. GALILEO,1^4 andSUNYConnect5 (1999) are some of the well-known library consortia.This article outlines e¡orts made by Indian libraries and institutions

towards the formation of consortia of libraries for buying access to elec-tronic resources. The proposed strategic cooperation called the ‘‘IndianNational Digital Library in Engineering Science and Technology’’(INDEST) is based on ¢ve project proposals submitted to three majorMinistries/Departments of the Government of India, namely theMinistry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), the Ministry ofInformation Technology (MIT), and the Department of Biotechnology.The INDEST is proposed to function as a consortium of engineeringand technological libraries for nurturing a core of digital collections inengineering and technology. It is proposed as a central national resourceof full-text digital information in engineering and technology. As a con-sortium of libraries, the INDEST would bring together institutions re-ceiving ¢nancial support from these three Ministries/Departments ofthe Government of India. While these Ministries/Departments wouldprovide ¢nancial resources for establishing the consortium and for ob-taining core electronic resources, the participating institutions wouldcontribute to consortia-based subscriptions. The contributions from par-ticipating institutions are proposed to be diverted directly from fundingagencies to the INDEST. The INDEST would host a variety ofWeb-based digital resources, including those available through nationaland international agencies with consortia and national licences, toprovide access to authorized users in India.

1Potter, W.G., Russel, C.E., Beard, C.E., Gaumond, G.R., Penson, M.S. & Williams, J. (1996)GALILEO: Georgia’s electronic library. Library Hi-tech 14(2^3), 9^18.2Kohl, D.F. (1997) Resource sharing in changing Ohio environment. Library Trends 45(3),

435^447.3Martin, R.S. (1996) Texas: Library automation and connectivity: A land of contrast and

diversity. Library Hi-tech 14(2^3), 291^302.4 Perry, K.A. (1995) VIVA’s ¢rst year.Virginia Librarian 41(4), 14^16.5 SUNYConnect (http://www.sunyconnect.suny.edu/).

4 J. ARORA

RESOURCE SHARING IN DIGITAL ENVIRONMENTS:A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Cooperation amongst libraries for rationalization of journal subscrip-tions in print media and the sharing of information resources as a cost-e¡ective and cost-bene¢cial solution is not a new concept. The mode ofcooperation has, however, undergone a sea change in the last few dec-ades. Broadly, all activities relating to cooperation amongst libraries un-til 1980 revolved around the acquisition and sharing of printed artefactsand their bibliographic records, i.e., books, journals in printed forms,and their cataloguing information. The libraries worked with the tradi-tional practices and policies of buying and storing printed artefacts inanticipation of their use. Indexing and abstracting databases likeINSPEC, Compendex +, MEDLINE, etc., were also acquired eitheron CD-ROM or on magnetic tapes and mounted for interactive publicaccess by the libraries to supplement and complement their in-housedatabases. Most of the popular online databases were electronic versionsof indexing and abstracting services containing bibliographic referencesto research articles and other documents. While these online databaseswere good and continue to be so at providing bibliographical details ofdocument or research articles, a user must depend on the libraries forthe actual document. In other words, cooperation amongst libraries re-volves around printed artefacts in one of the following formats:

(a) interlibrary loans;(b) on-site reciprocal borrowing privileges;(c) cooperative collection development; and(d) joint automation projects.

The latter part of the 1980s also witnessed development of shared cat-aloguing systems. These systems were exemplary for computer network-ing for collaboration and cooperation within the library community andpaved the way for other key developments. OCLC and the Research Li-brary Information Network (RLIN) are two major shared cataloguingsystems in the USA.However, the 1990s ushered in a true revolution in digital library sys-

tems with the availability of computing power allowing parallel proces-sing, multitasking, parallel consultations, and parallel knowledgenavigation. Coinciding with the availability of hardware, software, andnetworking technology, the advent of theWWW led to the creation of aglobal digital library and the availability of ready-to-use, publicly avail-able, user-friendly graphical Web browsers for all prevalent platforms.These technologies, put together, brought in a semblance of interactivityand arti¢cial intelligence necessary for developing digital libraries.


Availability of these technologies has triggered large-scale commercialand non-commercial digitization programmes the world over. An in-creasingly large number of STM electronic journals are appearing onthe Web. The Web-based electronic information products not only elim-inate paper, physical storage, and transportation costs but also o¡ermany other possibilities for incorporating multimedia and hyper-linkfeatures into electronic documents hitherto impossible on paper media.The availability of digital information resources, including e-journals,

not only triggered a shift in the acquisition process from the policy of‘‘just-in-case’’ to ‘‘access when you need it’’ but also encouraged thenotion of ‘‘shared subscriptions’’ or ‘‘consortia subscriptions’’ amongstlibraries. A number of attempts were made in India in the past to bringscienti¢c and technical libraries together to form consortia so as to ac-quire better services and ¢nancial terms from the electronic publishers.

MAJOR INITIATIVES TOWARD FORMATION OF CONSORTIA OF

LIBRARIES IN INDIA

There have been a few national and regional e¡orts to provide sharedWWW-based electronic resources amongst scienti¢c and technicallibraries in India. The following are some of the major e¡orts.

Agreement of cooperation amongst IITs, BARC andTIFR (1998)The idea for a consortium of IITs in India was ¢rst mooted in 1995 forsubscriptions to printed journals in 1995 in the annual meeting of IITLibrarians at IIT Bombay. The librarians of Bhabha Atomic ResearchCentre (BARC) and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research(TIFR) also participated in the meeting. Although rationalization ofperiodical subscriptions in the printed format had limited impact, itdid trigger a highly active resource sharing programme amongst IITs,BARC, and TIFR in India. However, in subsequent annual meetings ofthe IIT, the librarians’ decisions for consortia-based subscriptions ofelectronic journals were made and an ‘‘Agreement of Cooperation’’was signed accordingly.The consortia of libraries of IITs, BARC, and TIFR tried working

out consortia-based subscriptions to electronic journals through anumber of publishers including Elsevier Science (ScienceDirect), JohnWiley (Wiley Interscience), Springer-Verlag (Link InformationServices), and Academic Press (Project Ideal) for the year 2000, butwithout much success. Initiatives are being taken for the consortia-basedsubscriptions for the year 2001.

6 J. ARORA

STI network for resource sharing amongst Science andTechnology Libraries (1999)The proposal for the formation of ‘‘STI Network’’ was initiated at ameeting of the heads of major science and technology libraries heldat the Defence Scienti¢c Information and Documentation Centre(DESIDOC) in May 1999. The STI Network has 20 major libraries inIndia as signatories to its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) witha provision to induct additional members. Resource sharing in all modesand subscriptions to electronic resources as a consortium of libraries aremajor objectives of the STI Network. The STI Network is an initiativewhich now lies dormant.

J-GATE from Informatics IndiaThe J-GATE interface, launched recently by Informatics India, proposesto serve as an electronic aggregator, third-party gateway, and electronicarchival facility for several thousand scienti¢c journals. J-GATE, likeCrossref,6 proposes to host a large database consisting of bibliographicreferences and abstracts of journal articles, with links to their full-textarticles at the publisher’s site. J-GATE would provide Web-based accessto the full text of journals to the libraries, wherever applicable, if theirprint versions are subscribed to through them. Users’ authentication willbe done by the J-GATE interface. J-GATE would also facilitate and in-itiate the formation of library consortia by pooling journal subscribersfrom a given publisher.

WHY INDIAN CONSORTIA INITIATIVES HAVE

NOT YET SUCCEEDED

India does not have a very rich tradition of resource sharing amongstlibraries. However, things ought to change now with the network-basedsharing possibilities o¡ered by Web-based electronic resources. A closerlook at the functioning of participating libraries and their institutionsreveal a number of reasons as to why the above-listed initiatives havenot fully succeeded. Some of the important reasons are the following.

Lack of understandingLibrarians in India do not fully comprehend the concept of consortia-based subscriptions to electronic resources. Consortia-based subscriptionsin India are generally done to avoid redundant expenses and to avoidduplicate subscriptions, etc. Thus, there is a need for Indian librarians

6 Crossref.org (URL: http://www.crossref.org/).


to better understand the bene¢ts and liabilities of consortia-based sub-scriptions to electronic resources.

Paucity of fundsE-formatted information has numerous advantages, but cost saving isnot one of them. In most cases, subscriptions to electronic journals arelinked to their printed counterparts and, in most cases, a subscribinglibrary or library consortium need to pay additional charges for buyingelectronic access to journals they subscribe to in print. These additionalcharges can be very high if access is provided campus-wide in an insti-tution to large numbers of users. Librarians face the dilemma of com-mitting additional funds for journals already subscribed to in print.Institutions must commit additional funds if libraries wish to convert toresources, either individually or as members of library consortia.

Consortium as a legal entityThe consortium of libraries so formed need to be legal entities since sub-scriptions would be collected from participating libraries. In the process,consortia must deal with banking organizations like the Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI) for arranging foreign exchange on behalf of participatingmember libraries. As such, library consortia must have legal corporatestatus with permission and authority to deal with institutions like banks.

Problems in transfer of fundsThe funds required for subscriptions to electronic resources needto be pooled together from various participating libraries for e¡ectingconsortia-based subscriptions. However, there are administrativeproblems involved in the transfer of funds from various participatinglibraries to the consortium.

GeographyThe six IITs participating in the consortium are geographically dis-persed at distant locations. IIT Delhi and IIT Kanpur are in the north-ern part of India, IIT Bombay is in the western end, IIT Madras is inthe extreme south, and IIT Kharagpur and IIT Guwahati are in theextreme east. Similarly, institutions participating in the STI Networkare quite distant from each other. Coordination amongst the participat-ing libraries becomes di⁄cult due to geographical distances betweenparticipating institutions. These problems need to be addressed and re-dressed for formation of library consortia and for implementation ofconsortia-based subscriptions.

8 J. ARORA

INDIAN NATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY IN ENGINEERINGSCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: A PROPOSAL

Some of the problems listed above cannot be solved with mediated talks,training, and awareness programmes for librarians and other decision-making authorities at the institute level. While librarians can be con-vinced to join library consortia for the bene¢ts they provide, libraryprofessionals may not be in a position to command additional funds orto provide legal status to the consortia formed. It was thus consideredappropriate to submit project proposals to various Departments orMinistries of the Government of India with the formation of libraryconsortia and subscriptions to electronic resources as a central theme.The following ¢ve proposals were submitted during the past year tothree di¡erent Ministries/Departments of the Government of India withthe author of this paper as Principal Investigator. Each of these Minis-tries/Departments consists of a number of institutions operating autono-mously and receiving ¢nancial support for their activities. Simultaneousand coherent execution of these project proposals submitted to the threeMinistries/Departments on developing digitized collections would con-stitute the ‘‘Indian National Digital Library in Engineering Scienceand Technology (INDEST)’’.

Developing Network-enabled Digitized Collections in Biotechnology at theIIT Delhi: proposals submitted to the Department of Biotechnology (DBT)The project proposal entitled ‘‘Developing Network-enabled DigitizedCollections in Biotechnology at the IIT Delhi’’ was submitted to theDepartment of Biotechnology, of the Government of India. TheDepartment supports a ‘‘Biotechnology Information System (BTIS)’’comprising 10 distributed information centres (DIC) and 42 sub-distrib-uted information centres located in universities and research institutes ofnational importance. The Department of Biotechnology provides ¢nan-cial support to these DICs and sub-DICs for running their activities, in-cluding subscriptions to journals.Since the Department of Biotechnology provides ¢nancial assistance

to 52 institutions (10 DICs and 42 sub-DICs), consortia-based electronicsubscriptions involving all 52 institutions dealing with di¡erent aspectsof biotechnology are possible. The consortia may later be managedthrough the BTIS headquarters. Finances required for subscriptions toelectronic resources can be diverted to the consortia from the budgetallocated to the DICs and sub-DICs. The department can provide addi-tional funds involved in running the consortia. The project proposal hasbeen accepted in principle; methodologies for execution of the projectare being developed.


Proposal submitted to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)The following two project proposals were submitted to the Ministry ofHuman Resource Development of the Government of India. TheMHRD provides ¢nancial support to all six Indian Institutes ofTechnology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Science (IIScs), RegionalEngineering Colleges (RECs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs),and several other educational institutions, including universities,through the University Grants Commission (UGC). Since the MHRDis the central funding source for several institutions, including those inthe engineering and technological ¢elds, there is a strong possibility forimplementation of consortia-based subscriptions to electronic resources.

Developing Network-enabled Digitized Collections in Engineering andTechnology atIIT Delhi. With a recent decision taken by the Government of India toincrease, enhance, and enrich engineering and technological educationavailable in the country, there is a need to implement programmes forsharing of resources amongst existing engineering and technological in-stitutions. Implementation of shared subscriptions is possible with eitherlibrary consortia or with national licences for all Indian engineeringand technological educational institutions.

Digital libraries consisting of scanned images of doctoral theses submitted to IITDelhi. This project proposes establishing a digital library consisting ofscanned images of old volumes of journals and doctoral theses submittedto IIT Delhi. The project also envisages submission of Ph.D. theses elec-tronically and the hosting of them on the Web according to the guide-lines of the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations(NDLTD). The Central Library has had more than 3000 Ph.D. thesessubmitted to IIT Delhi and approximately 100 theses are added everyyear.Both proposals have been accepted in principle; methodologies for

their execution are being developed. Due to the bene¢ts of consortia-based subscriptions to electronic resources, the Ministry is willing to in-vest additional funds to promote the formation of library consortia asseparate legal entities and will divert funds from institutions underits control in order to provide for additional electronic subscriptions tojournals.

Project proposals submitted to the Ministry of InformationTechnology (MIT)The Ministry of InformationTechnology (MIT) handles policy mattersrelating to information technology and coordination of activities in the¢eld of information technology. There are 17 institutions attached to theMinistry of Information Technology, including public undertakings,

10 J. ARORA

autonomous bodies, and a⁄liated o⁄ces. The following two proposalswere submitted to the MIT last.

Web-based Directory of Online Interactive Courseware. AWeb-based ‘‘OnlineInteractive Courseware Directory in Information Technology’’ has beendeveloped and is being maintained under the project entitled ‘‘OnlineInteractive Courseware in Information Technology Available on theInternet’’ sanctioned by the Ministry. The directory, available athttp://www.iitd.ac.in/courses/, provides organized and structured access tothe interactive courseware on the Internet with an aim to promotingdistant and continuing education in information technology. TheWeb-site facilitates a virtual forum for online teaching and learning ofinformation technology. The directory lists more than 4000 ITcourseware items available on the Internet.

Indian National Digital Library in IT (IND-IT). The National DigitalLibrary in Information Technology (IND-IT) is expected to functionas a consortium of scienti¢c libraries for building up core digital ITcollections. It will host a variety of Web-based digital resourcesincluding those available through national and international agenciesin the ¢eld of IT with consortia and national licences to provideaccess to authorized users in India. The IND-ITwould speci¢cally con-centrate on acquisition, access, and delivery of information in IT-relatedareas electronically via the WWW, thereby enhancing availability andvisibility nationwide. The proposal is under active consideration by theMIT.

BUILDING-UP DIGITAL COLLECTIONS FOR THE INDIAN NATIONALDIGITAL LIBRARY IN ENGINEERING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

(INDEST)

The project proposals submitted to the Department of Biotechnology,Ministry of Human Resource Development and Ministry of Informa-tion Technology of the Government of India, on developing digitizedcollections provide for the following digital components, albeit indi¡erent disciplines. Put together, these resources would constitute the‘‘Indian National Digital Library in Engineering Science and Technol-ogy (INDEST)’’. Figure 1 is a pictorial representation of the INDESTdevelopment schema.Besides arranging national and consortial licensing to electronic re-

sources, the INDEST would also provide document delivery services,create and archive digital collections, facilitate shared storage and

FIGURE 1. Building-up Digital Collections in INDEST.


preservation, adopt common bibliographic formats to facilitate data ex-changes, and promote common library systems.

Acquisition of collections available in digital formatsAvailability of CD-ROMs, and more recently of DVDs, as a mediumwith high-storage capacity, longevity, and ease of transportation trig-gered the production of several CD-ROM-based information products,including several bibliographic databases earlier available only throughonline vendors or as printed format and indexing services. Thousands ofCD-ROM databases are currently available from a multitude of CD-ROM producers including Silver Platter, which alone produces morethan 250 CD-ROM information products. Moreover, several full-textdatabases also started appearing in the late 1980s and early 1990slaunching the beginning of a new digital era. Some of the importantfull-text digital collections available on CD-ROM include: ADONIS,IEEE/IEE Electronic Library (IEL), ABI/INFO, UMI’s InternationalBusiness Database, UMI’s General Reference Periodicals, Espace World,US Patents, etc. CD-ROM networking technology is now availablefor providing Web-based simultaneous access to CD-ROM databaseson Local Area Networks (LANs) as well as on Wide Area Networks(WANs). More evolved technology allows o¥oading and integration ofthe entire contents of CD-ROMs/DVDs on to a server, which, in turn,provides Web-based simultaneous and faster access to the informationcontents of CD-ROMs/DVDs. The libraries have an option to subscribe

12 J. ARORA

to these full-text databases as a part of their digital libraries. Althoughmost of the information products available on CD-ROM are also hostedon the Web, the possibility of acquiring selected full-text collections ofCD-ROMs/DVDs with licences for document delivery would beconsidered for implementation by the INDEST.

Buying access to digital collections: electronic journalsThe Internet has long been a favourite medium for experimentingwith electronic publishing and delivery. The technology is now availablethat will allow creation of fully digitized multimedia products and theiraccessibility through the Internet. Technological changes, especiallyInternet and Web technology, continue to attract more and moreinstitutions to adopt these global means for o¡ering publicationsinternationally to scientists and technologists. Most of the importantpublishers now have theirWeb-based interfaces o¡ering full texts of theirjournals.The total number of electronic journals available on the Web, one of

the cornerstones of the digital library, has grown steadily from less than10 in 1989 to 7000 in 1998.7 These journals are available through theWeb at varying subscription rates. Electronic journal subscriptions inmost cases are linked to printed counterparts, i.e., online subscriptionsmay be o¡ered free with print subscription (e.g., publications of theAmerican Society for Physics and AIChE) or priced at a ¢xed percen-tage over the print subscriptions (e.g. journals published by ElsevierScience, Springer-Verlag, and IEEE) or may be o¡ered exclusively inelectronic media. The INDESTwould subscribe to a core set of electro-nic journals pursuant to national licences and to others according toconsortia licences.

Buying access to digital collections: other Web-based information productsBesides electronic journals, there are several online databases that arenow available through the Web including MEDLINE (several versions),AGRICOLA, ERIC, INSPEC, and COMPENDEX Plus; some of themare free while others are priced. Most of the online databases, earlieravailable through online search services, are now available through theWeb. Reference works like encyclopaedias, dictionaries, handbooks,atlases, etc., are also making their electronic appearance on the Web.Electronic resources created exclusively for the Web include Web-based educational tutorials called ‘‘online courseware’’. The online cour-seware are proliferating on the Web as a strong contender for distance

7 Association of Research Libraries. (1998) Directory of electronic journals, newsletter and academicdiscussion lists. Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries.


education. Telecampus Canada (www.telecampus.edu/) lists more than12000 online types of courseware available on the Web. Moreover,highly specialized Web sites not only o¡er incredible amounts of infor-mation, but also o¡er it in various electronic formats. Such Web sitesinclude EI EngineeringVillage (http://www.ei.org/), ISI Electronic Library(http://www.isinet.com), IEEE/IEE Electronic Library (http://www.ieee.org/),and Engineering Sciences Data Unit (http://www.esdu.com).It is proposed to arrange national licences for important databases

like INSPEC and COMPENDEX Plus. Other databases can be sub-scribed to with consortia licences.

Conversion of existing print media into digital formatSeveral digital library projects are concerned with providing digitalaccess to materials that already exist within traditional librariesin printed media. Scanned page images are practically the onlyreasonable solutions for institutions such as libraries for converting exist-ing paper collections to computer-processible formats convertable intoHTML/SGML or into any other structured or unstructured text.Scanned page images are a natural choice for large-scale conversionsfor major digital library initiatives. An image-based implementationrequires a large space for data storage and transmission. There areseveral large projects using page images as their primary storageformat, including project JSTOR (www.jstor.org/) at Princeton University,funded by the Mellon Foundation. Capturing page image formats iscomparatively easy and inexpensive; they are faithful reproductions oforiginals, maintaining page integrity and originality. The scannedtextual images, however, are not searchable unless it is opticallyscanned, a process which in itself is highly error prone, especially whenscienti¢c texts are scanned.One proposed solution is a pilot project in which old and deteriorat-

ing volumes of journals and Ph.D. theses submitted to IIT Delhi arescanned. IIT Delhi has already scanned 25000 pages of old volumes ofjournals and hosted them on an Intranet server under a project sanc-tioned by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Ac-cess is provided through the content pages of journals coded in HTML.Publishers granted permission for these journals to be scanned. Similarscanning projects can be initiated at other libraries participating in theconsortium.

Creating portal sites or gateways to the electronic collections available on theWebThe Web has become the most successful networked multimedia hyper-text-based system allowing rapid access to a wide variety of networkedinformation resources. The Web, being a hypermedia-based system,

14 J. ARORA

permits linking amongst electronic resources stored on servers dispersedgeographically at distant locations. The portal sites or gateways redirecta user to the holders of the original digital material. A gateway mayprovide its own indexing and search services and it may combine origi-nal resources from a number of di¡erent providers. The portal sites orthe gateways restrict their operation to providing linkages to indepen-dent third-party sources. Home pages of all the major education andresearch institutions, especially in the developed world, provide an orga-nized and structured guide to electronic resources available on the Inter-net. Some of the major portal sites or gateways that provide access toelectronic resources on the Internet are as follows:

The INDEST would host a comprehensive portal site facilitatingstructured and organized guides to resources available on the Internetin engineering and technology.

LICENSING STRATEGIES, APPROACHES TO DATABASE ACCESS, ANDTERMS OF LICENSING

Licensing strategiesConsortia provide strength in numbers to negotiate with electronicpublishers for the best possible prices and rights. INDESTwould adoptone of the following licensing strategies for subscriptions to electronicresources:

(a) Consortium licensing. The consortium members would pay thesubscription fees with their own budgets. Sub-consortia mightbe formed to handle diverse requirements of participatinginstitutions that might join one or more sub-consortia to ful¢ltheir requirements.

(b) National licensing. The INDEST would pay for the electronicresources from the funds provided by ministries/ departmentsinvolved in promoting the consortium activities. The databases

WWW Virtual Library, http://www.edoc.com/Internet Public Library, http://www.ipl.org/Michigan Electronic Library, http://mel.lib.mi.us/Penn Electronic Library, http://www.library.upenn.edu/resources/BUBL Information Service, http://bubl.ac.uk/Argus Clearing House, http://www.clearinghouse.net/Internet Index, http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/InternetIndex/


like INSPEC and COMPENDEX Plus could be accessedthrough national licences.

(c) Approaches to database access. Consortium members wouldaccess licensed collections either from the mirror site createdlocally on the servers at IIT Delhi or from publishers’ sitesthrough the Internet. The choice of a mirror site or accessthrough the Internet would depend on several factors includingcost and communication, connection speeds from the mirror site,the number of participating institutions, and their geographicallocations within the country, etc.

(d) Terms of licensing. The INDEST, through its NationalCoordination Committee, would negotiate for the best termsand conditions of licensing, always mindful of issues likearchiving options, frequency of data updates, price protections,prevailing pricing models, etc.

IMPLEMENTATION

Implementation of a project of this depth and dimension requires agreat deal of planning and consultations. Recognizing the bene¢ts thatthis technology-driven revolution can bring to the libraries, informationcentres and their Indian users, the Ministry of Human Resource Devel-opment (MHRD) realized that there is a need to evaluate both the ex-isting network infrastructure and information systems/services availablenationwide, and to identify gaps existing therein. The ministry saw theneed for providing an impetus to the formation of scienti¢c and techni-cal library consortia in India. Accordingly, a ‘‘National Seminar onKnowledge Networking in Engineering and Technology Education andResearch’’ was organized at IIT Delhi from December 1 to 2, 2000,under the aegis of the Knowledge Networking Initiatives of the MHRDas a precursor to the implementation of project proposals, with thefollowing objectives:

(a) to evaluate the present status of network infrastructure availablein the country and to identify gaps for providing reliableconnectivity;

(b) to evaluate options available for accessing the full-text electronicinformation in engineering and technology in a consortia mode;

(c) to assess possibilities of cooperative electronic content creation forshared use amongst leading engineering and technologyinstitutions; and

16 J. ARORA

(d) to study the strengths and weaknesses of existing informationservices and facilities hosted at libraries of various leadingengineering and technology institutions in the country.

The seminar will have evaluative presentations on the options avail-able for accessing the full-text electronic information in engineering andtechnology in a consortia mode followed by panel discussions on thesubject. The seminar will also feature electronic publishers presentingtheir products/services to leading engineering and technology institu-tions as consortium subscribers. The terms of reference and functionalorganization of the proposed consortium will be decided during thisseminar.

CONCLUSION

The Internet and Web technology have established themselves aspowerful media for the delivery of electronic information resources.Growing numbers of publishers use the Internet as an internationalmeans for o¡ering their publications worldwide to scientists and technol-ogists. Libraries, as heavy consumers of electronic journals and onlinedatabases, stand to bene¢t greatly from this technology-driven revolu-tion. The availability of IT-based electronic information products isexerting ever-increasing pressure on libraries which, in turn, arecommitting larger portions of their budgets for either procuring oraccessingWeb-based online full-text search services, CD-ROM products,or online databases. The libraries and information centres, with theirdiminishing (or at best static) ¢nancial allocations, have to considernew ways to consolidate global resources in order to maximize theirlimited ¢nancial resources. These developments gave impetus to the for-mation of ‘‘shared subscriptions’’ or ‘‘consortia-based subscriptions’’ tojournals worldwide.The consortium, called the ‘‘Indian National Digital Library in Engi-

neering Science and Technology’’ (INDEST), outlined in this article isbased on ¢ve project proposals submitted to three major Ministries/Departments of the Government of India, viz., the Ministry of HumanResource Development (MHRD), the Ministry of Information Technol-ogy (MIT), and the Department of Biotechnology. As a library consor-tium, the INDEST is expected to bring together institutions receiving¢nancial support from these three Ministries/Departments of the Gov-ernment of India. The contributions from participating institutionsshould be diverted directly from funding agencies to the INDEST. Thisapproach to consortia is proposed to circumvent previously encountereddi⁄culties.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author gratefully acknowledges the research grants received from the Ministry of Informa-tion Technology, the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the Department of Biotech-nology, and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

Documents

Indian National Digital Library in Engineering Science and Technology (INDEST): A Proposal for Strategic Cooperation for Consortia-based Access to Electronic Resources