The ICFAI Business School - Mumbai, 71, Nirlon Complex, Goregaon (East), Mumbai-400063, India. E-mail: vnpatkar@ibsindia.org; vnpatkar2004@yahoo.co.in
Based on a paper presented at the UGC sponsored Seminar-cum-Workshop on Knowledge Management in Academic Settings organised by the Department of Education Management and University Branch Library of the SNDT University, Juhu Campus, Mumbai, April 26–27, 2005.
Both the library and educational institutions face the problem of efficiently handling the ever increasing data load. More often than not the computer tools employed for this purpose address only the normal queries to support short term planning and administration issues. However, deep inside the mass of such data remain obscured very interesting patterns and associations between various parameters. The data mining is one recent development in the computer field for the in-depth exploration of the data. It uncovers the hidden information that could be vital for strategic and long term planning. To highlight the essential features of data mining process and to explore its possible application in the library and academic field are the principal aims of this paper.
