News And Events (1st July 2006)
Seminar on:
“E-Publishing & Global Promotion of Indian Publications”
on
1st July, 2006, Auditorium, National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Vihar Lake, Mumbai
Speech by Ms. Kanchan N. Patil,
Topiwala National Medical College
The Merging Roles of Publishers and Librarians
Publishing and Librarianship are two professions that are situated at the frontier of the change or a revolution which is covered by Information technology.
This evolution has brought such drastic change in the history of librarians.
The impact of IT on publishing & Librarianship is so significant that two Professions are being redefined.
Publishers and Librarians share a common goal, that is what Dr. S.R. Ranganathan called to first two law of Library science, “Every reader his/her book” and “Every book its reader”.
Both academic librarians & Professional / Scholars and has e high experience of its role in solving the human, social scientific & cultural issue of our day.
Now a days main vehicle used in the communication process has been online journals. The most important change has been brought by I.T. revolution. Information Technology has change both method of creating records & packaging ideas of online journals.
These online journals have several advantages over printed journals.
- may be available to uses anywhere and at any time.
- may be used simultaneously by more than one person.
- It can be scanned & send early to other libraries - interlibrary loan.
- saving time.
- It can be copied & safe guarded from loose damage.
- It can be seen with Boolean operator.
This has other objectives on the World Wide Web allowing users to jump from one resource to another across the traditional boundaries of the journal.
The second change relates to the codex from the journal has been a linear operating system. Usually alphabetic order we read it in one direction from beginning to end. The packaging of ideas is not limited to the linear.
Publishers Role
Publishers decide whose work will enter into the system of information distribution & thus provide a kind of Quality Control. They verify the accuracy & authenticity of what they publishing. With the internet & the World Wide Web, it has become easier for individuals to make public what they wish to, without the help of a publisher. It is technically possible to “Publisher” without using to services of the Publisher.
Publishers are out of the print business but they can sell the same information in various forms & one of this from is online journals. This new kind of Publisher makes available to the user, only that information which the user wants & the most convenient form. Publisher of electronic Information offer search facilities & access to specific sections in their publications & provide for purchase of selected articles in their publications.
As publishers maintain their own database of their Publications on the Net, they enter the zones of achieving & Preservation also far the responsibilities of librarians.
The rising cost of journals & shrinking budget online journals has become a model for the library. With available of online journals libraries have begun to move towards access rather than ownership.
Librarians are involved in organizing and disseminating the materials acquired. Proposed bibliography, Indexes, compilations, reading material in a sense libraries are moving into the zone of Publishers. One person or institution may now perform several functions at once. The individual may unite, publish, archive and disseminate from a single personal computers.
The situation points out to a reconfiguration of the production and dissemination of knowledge. Just as the roles of publishers and librarians are merging.
In India there is a need to have online journals & opportunities for such collaborative projects beginning to appear between Publisher and Librarians they can work together to achieve their common goal of meeting needs of scholars for information.
Similarly M/S Globe Publication has tried identifying a group of Indian journals for creating full text services.
The Publishers & libraries can work together to develop the concept of shared ownership materials which may be made available on network. City level network will take new role.
These activities will require close collaboration between the Publishing industry and libraries to provide useful & relevant information.
Several issues will need to be considered.
- Responsibility of selections.
- Sharing of expenses & profits.
- Fee Structure.
- Marketing and Pricing arrangements.
- Ownership issue.
Ms Kanchan N. Patil
Chief Medical Librarian,
TNMC Library,
B. Y. L. Nair Ch. Hospital & Topiwal National Medical College.
Mumbai Central – 400 008.
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