Asian Chapter News
Official Newsletter of Asian Chapter of the Special Libraries Association Website: http://units.sla.org/chapter/cas Vol. 6 | Issue 1 | Spring-Summer 2010
Message From the President
Warm greetings to everyone!! Inside this issue: I am very pleased to send you this newsletter, which has been a long awaiting after the 2008 edition. I appreciate the efforts being made by • Message from the President 1the editors of the newsletter and all of our board members for bringing • SLA Asian Chapter Board 2out this edition. Members - 2010 The Asian Chapter has been expanding successfully, and we have more • Winners of 2010 Special Libraries 3 than 200 members from across Asia, North America, Europe and other Association (SLA) & Asian countries. We wish to send thanks to our Past President Mr Shaheen Chapter Award and the 2009 Board Members for all their hard work, commendable • TCS Library & Information Centre 4achievements under a strong leadership. wins SLA's 'Centre of Excellence' In 2010, the Board and I made specific objectives for further success. The objectives • Trip Report: libraries and library 4include the following: "More Communication”, “More Membership Strategies”, and schools in Singapore and China “Better Action for Mandatory Activities in the Chapter". We have already made good • SLA Centennial Conference 2009 6progress, and this newsletter is one of the reflections of our commitment towards “More by P.K.Jain Communication”. • My experience attending the SLA 8We always think about our members benefit and I am sure that we will come up with 2009 Annual Conference in DC by further benefits of joining the SLA memberships this year. One benefit is that the SLA Xiang Yuanyuan award that gives you a chance to attend the SLA Annual Meeting. We have been • SLA Asian Chapter Events in India 9nominating as many deserving candidates in our chapter to SLA Honors and Awards as we during 2009-10 could. We also have our chapter awards and this year we have established three Asian • SLA President visits TCS, India 10 Awards and three awardees will attend SLA 2010. We would like to increase more chapter • SLA Workshop on “Future of the 11 awards in the near future. We welcome your thoughts on this important issue. Furthermore, even if you don't win an award, other benefits are available via the Internet, Information Profession: Embedded such as Click University Webinars http://www.sla.org/content/learn/members/ Librarians and Beyond” webinars/index.cfm, “23Things” learning sites, Second Life http://wiki.sla.org/display/ • Report of the ICoASL - 2008 12 SLASECONDLIFE/Home, and members' exclusive free e-book “ebrary”. Many members • Society For Library Professionals 14 have been using Click University Webinars for their own learning, enhance their • Book Release 14 knowledge and sharpen the skills and expertise. • Upcoming Events in Asia 14 In terms of workshops and conferences in the Asian Chapter, we have lots of plans both • Asian Chapter in News 15 locally and internationally. So check our website regularly at : • Editors' Note Register for SLA 2010! 16 http://units.sla.org/chapter/cas/ and subscribe to our listserve email ([email protected]). • Click University Courses - Webinars 16 Finally, you might find many interesting activities of the Asian Chapter and information in Editorial Team: this newsletter. Feel free to join our activities and send your feedback to us. We want to Editor : Jane Macoustra hear your opinions. We value your suggestions and comments. Members : Louise Pemberton In addition, if your colleagues or other information professional are interested in our M Nandeesha chapter, please feel free to forward this newsletter along with details of how they can join Shantanu Ganguly us. Tariq Ashraf Yaqub Ali Warm Regards, Co-ordinator : P K Jain Kyoko Sato President, ISSN: 1793-2289 (Print) SLA Asian Chapter ISSN: 1793-2297 (Electronic) [email protected]
SLA Asian Chapter News | Vol. 6 | Issue 1 | Spring-Summer 2010 1 SLA Asian Chapter Board Members - 2010 Position Name Terms Elected Positions (Executive Board) President Kyoko Sato, Japan 2010 President-elect B P Prakash, India 2010 Past President Maqsood Ahmad Shaheen, Pakistan 2010 Secretary K V Satyanarayana, India 2009-2010 Muhammad Umar Farooq, Pakistan Jeanette Reagan, Australia 2010-2011 Director Rubina Tariq, Pakistan 2009-2010 Shantanu Ganguly, India 2009-2010 Treasurer Jay Bhatt, USA 2010-2011 Appointed Position (Advisory Board) Membership Chairman Debal C Kar, India 2009-2010 P K Jain, India 2009-2010 P K Jain, India (Chairman) Debal C Kar, India 2009-2010 Award Committee Kyoko Sato, Japan 2009-2010 Scott Davidson, Singapore 2010-2011 Sponsor Representatives (nominated by sponsors) Events Chairman Salek Chand, India (Chairman) 2010-2011 & Committee Muhammad Shahid Soroya, Pakistan 2010-2011 P K Jain, India 2009-2010 PR/Marketing Chairman Sanjay Kataria, India 2010-2011 Strategic Planning of the Chapter Sushma Arora, India 2009-2010 Manish Ranjan, India Webmaster / Wiki master Sneh Sharma, India 2010-2011 Sushma Arora, India Jane Macoustra, United Kingdom (Editor) Louise Pemberton, China Newsletter Editorial Board M Nandeesha, India 2010-2011 Shantanu Ganguly, India Tariq Ashraf, India Yaqub Ali, Pakistan Sponsorship Chairman N K Wadhwa, India 2010-2011 P K Jain, India (Mentoring Role) Training Chair Sushma Arora, India 2009-2010 Country Representatives Hong Kong Frank Chu K P Singh India Lata Suresh Meera Gaikawari (West India) Japan Dave McCaughan Pakistan Muzammil Tahira Nooruddin Merchant China Xiang Yuanyuan (Cindy) Indonesia Tanya Torres Philippines Mary Ann Jimenez Santiago,Marites Bangladesh Nomanul Haq Malaysia Harvinder Kaur
2 SLA Asian Chapter News | Vol. 6 | Issue 1 | Spring-Summer 2010 Winners of 2010 Special Libraries Association (SLA) & Asian Chapter Award
Dr. Harish Chandra Librarian, IIT, Chennai, India E-Mail: [email protected]
Winner of “SLA Asian Professional Award” Sponsored Balani Infotech, IGroup and Asian Chapter, SLA
Mr. Parveen Babbar Assistant Librarian, IGNOU, Delhi, India E-Mail: [email protected]
Winner of “SLA Asian Librarian Award” Sponsored by IEEE and Asian Chapter, SLA
Ms. Wan-Ching(Renee), Wu Student, Dept. of LIS, National Taiwan University, Taiwan E-Mail: [email protected]
Winner of “SLA Asian Early Career Award” Sponsored by Business & Finance Division and Asian Chapter, SLA
Mr. Shantanu Ganguly TERI, Delhi E-Mail: [email protected]
Winner of “Bonnie Hidlitch International Librarian” Award by S&T Division, SLA
Mr. P K Jain Librarian, IEG, Delhi E-Mail: [email protected] Winner of "Sci-Tech Achievement Award" by S&T Division, SLA. He has been invited to speak at the SLA 2010 Conference in New Orleans and also invited by the University of Alabama, USA to deliver a lecture.
Ms. Sneh Lata Sharma TCS, Gurgaon E-Mail: [email protected]
Winner of "International Travel Award" by B&F Division, SLA
Ms. Sushma Arora TCS, New Delhi E-Mail: [email protected]
Winner of “Award for Outstanding Achievement in Business Librarianship” by B&F Division, SLA
All the above awardees will receive travel grant to attend SLA 2010 Conference during 13-16 June 2010 in New Orleans, LA, USA and will attend the same. Congratulations to all the Winners
SLA Asian Chapter News | Vol. 6 | Issue 1 | Spring-Summer 2010 3 TCS Library & Information Centre Trip Report: libraries and library wins SLA's 'Centre of Excellence' schools in Singapore and China By Barbie E. Keiser* The TCS Library & Information Centre* [LIC] has been felicitated with the 'Centre of Excellence (CoE)' On my recent trip to Singapore and China, I visited a award by Special Libraries' Association [USA]. The few libraries. While these short trips to one or two award was conferred in the 'Management' category, countries cannot tell the whole story of what's going during the SLA international conference held at on throughout the region, I've been coming to Asia Washington, DC in June 2009. All the CoE Judges since 1990 and I observed challenges in managing found the application to be of outstanding quality libraries in these countries that may exist elsewhere and extremely well presented. too. As such, what follows is a trip report that details my observations of libraries and library schools in By winning this prestigious award, TCS joins the parts of Asia. league of libraries of Wharton School, Microsoft, Verizon, Nike, Ernst & Young, University of Michigan, National Geographic and Stanford Determining new products/services University. It is also for the first time that the award to offer has crossed the American shores since its inception Colleagues throughout the region clearly wish to be in 2002. responsive to information needs of their libraries' various constituencies, but feel ill-equipped to gauge the information needs, wants, opinions, and expectations of users (or understand where non- users are going to get their information). Assessing the information needs of usersand reasons for non- use of a libraryis critical as staff design and develop new products and services. Since we cannot simply add to our “to do” lists, this information will be invaluable in determining how existing services should be modified to meet the new realities, and L to R : Ms Sushma Arora, Mr B.P.Prakash, which can be eliminated Ms Terri Brooks, Mr Satyanarayana, Ms Sanjukta Ray There are many tools for gathering this type of information with an appropriate level of detail, and a TCS Global LIC Head, Mr. B.P.Prakash accepted the mix of mechanisms is best to assure input from all award on behalf of TCS and presented an overview of types of users (plus non-users), including surveys, the LIC structure, activities and services to the SLA focus groups, interviews, and usability studies. delegates and dignitaries. The LIC team members Across the board, librarians understand how to Ms. Sanjukta Ray (Kolkata), Ms. Sushma Arora conduct needs assessments and report findings from (Delhi) and Mr. K.Satyanarayana (Pune) were also these information-gathering efforts; it's drawing present on this auspicious occasion. The team had a conclusions and developing appropriate wonderful opportunity to attend SLA conference, recommendations where we all need a bit of help now interact and learn from the international community and then. I recommend the following: of information professionals, understand industry trends, attended continuing education courses/ 1. In reporting responses to each question, training, and bring home quality learning and make at least one observation about the results innovative ideas for suitable deployment in LIC unit. (key finding) and indicate “Significance for our
* Library & Information Centre has been re-branded as * Barbie E. Keiser is an information resources “Information Resource Centre” effective November 2009. management consultant located in the metro Washington, DC, area. She is an active member of SLA, both at the Chapter and Division level.
4 SLA Asian Chapter News | Vol. 6 | Issue 1 | Spring-Summer 2010 organization.” That will make it easier for you to decisions for themselves/their departmentsaligned draw conclusions from these item-level with the library's overall goals and objectivesand responses and point the way toward reward (prudent) risk taking, even when things don't recommendations. work out as one expected. Allow staff the freedom to 2. Ask colleagues to review your analysis. Do they make mistakes and learn from them; users will be the see things that eluded you? ultimate beneficiaries.
Use of the needs assessment, along with an objective audit of your library's resourcesinformation, Marketing/outreach technology, budget, staff (skill sets)will help you devise a plan to satisfy those needs you can address Getting people to use the library remains an issue. now, and acquire or develop the resources your There were plenty of people in each of the libraries I library will need in order to offer additional products visited, but in most of the academic libraries, and services in the future. students were using the library as a quiet place to Successful libraries are those that are nimble enough study rather than conducting research. While to see an opportunity and take advantage by information literacy training of all sorts could only providing a new product or service to meet that benefit the students, these efforts must be integrated need/want. An added benefit is that by being into the curriculum to be successful. Cooperation responsive you engender goodwill and a reputation between faculty and library staff in designing and for doing innovative things. People see this and will supporting innovative research projects within a be more vocal in making requests for new services discipline is important. If I had limited because they know that you listen and make things resourcesmore of an issue when it comes to time than happen. I view this as evidence of greater customer moneyI'd focus my outreach efforts on faculties that service. In fact, in almost every library I visitin my are key to my university's strategy and information- own country as wellI like to see evidence of staff dependent. Working with individuals who appreciate striving to be more service-oriented, especially with the value of information is easier, and I can perfect efforts to improve the quality of customer service. my message before tackling those who may be more Libraries can be constrained by rules and resistant. regulations, from how items are catalogued to where they are placed on the shelves, what can circulate and what is not allowed for all to view/use. Some of those Budget allocation - Print vs. electronic rules are outmoded today, given the environments in The title of this section reflects how several library which we live, and we need to rethink all of this to directors presented their concerns. How do we make our libraries less restrictive and more continue to support those who want paper (e.g., hospitable to our users. professors) when the world has gone electronic? The benefits of electronic resources outweigh subscribing Staffing issues to multiple print copies of an expensive journal or reference service. To some extent, this is an On this trip, most of the libraries that I visited had education process that will resolve itself over time as capable staff. These individuals knew what they were the population ages, but in the meantime, library supposed to do and followed direction by superiors. directors need to make the case to administrators and Where managers had fallen down was in faculty. I recommend the following: communicating to all levels of staff that each has the authority to change things and make suggestions for 1. Clip and forward items in the news that support improving the library, and make life easier for these claims with evidence. Vendors can be themselves in the process. It's simply not fair to make helpful by supporting research projects in this a library director responsible for EVERY detail. I area. realize that libraries in Asia are more hierarchical 2. Provide evidence that institutions similar to your than those in other areas of the world, but directors own (or those that your administration deems would benefit from empowering staff to make leaders and models, or competition) are moving
SLA Asian Chapter News | Vol. 6 | Issue 1 | Spring-Summer 2010 5 in this direction. The not-so-subtle message is on 15 June 2009 at 7:30 am. I never saw such a that your institution needs to do this to remain wonderful division in my life. This was a great competitive (or aspire to greatness). Admittedly opportunity for me to interact with the division board easier for those institutions where publishing is members and other distinguished members. prized and rewarded and research for this required. I am very much thankful to the Science and Technology Division, Special Libraries Association Regarding publishing, I appreciate the fact that for selection of my name self to confer the Bonnie aspiring professors wish to publish in English. and Hilditch International Librarian Award However, I would urge universities to encourage and also give me the chance to attend the 100th SLA publications in native languages to build a literature conference in Washington DC, USA. Special thanks in each field. Since most of my presentations were to to Pam Enrici Chair, Sci-Tech Division and Sheila L. librarians and library school students, think of how Rosenthal, Award Chair for this award to me. I feel much their colleagues would benefit if those who are very much honored to receive this award. During the sending me articles in English would write in their conference I met many old professional friends as native tongue. well as new friends. This is an excellent platform where we can meet and exchange ideas with the I look forward to my next trip to Asia and to seeing eminent personalities in the field of Library and how successful libraries are in moving in the right Information Science. direction as they define the goals for themselves.
SLA Centennial Conference 2009 P.K. Jain Librarian, Institute of Economic Growth University of Delhi Enclave, Delhi, India E-mail: [email protected] Special Libraries Association (SLA) organizes annual conference every year in different parts of the world since 1909. This year was the 100th year celebration of SLA. It is a great opportunity to library and Science and Technology Division is a very wonderful information science professionals to attend this group of information professionals in the field of wonderful conference and human networking among science and technology. I attended its breakfast information professionals. I am thankful to all who meeting and I am very much impressed with the supported me to attend SLA conference. At first, I professionals of this division. I have learned a lot. It first got an opportunity to attend SLA conference in was a great moment in my life when I received this 2000 in Brighton, UK and this is fourth SLA award on 15 June 2009 at the breakfast meeting of conference which I attended here in USA. I intend to S&T Division. attend more SLA conferences in near future too. Presidential Citation Award Inaugural Session I have also got 2009 Presidential Citation award. The keynote addressed was delivered by Mr. Colin Stephen Abram, Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State during the Immediate Past inaugural session. Many awards were also conferred President gave this to the recipients during this session. award to me during International Rece- Science and Technology Division Breakfast ption at Embassy of Meeting Zambia in the For the first time I got the chance to attend Science evening of 15 June and Technology Division Breakfast division meeting 2009.
6 SLA Asian Chapter News | Vol. 6 | Issue 1 | Spring-Summer 2010 Australia and New Zealand Chapter Meeting Session I also attended Australia and New Zealand Chapter I have attended several sessions and gained Meeting on 14 June 2009 at 7:30 a.m. at breakfast. I knowledge. Some of the papers were very interesting met many members of this beautiful chapter and I am and useful for my skill development. Some of the very much impressed with them. techniques and services I learned and came to know from the conference could be used in my libraries, which I feel is the direct benefit out of the conference. Asian Chapter Meeting Info-Expo Asian Chapter meeting was organized on 16 June Info-Expo is the place where exhibitors display their 2009 at breakfast at 7:30 a.m. in the Hyatt Hotel. latest products. It gives opportunity to us to interact About 30 professionals attended this meeting. Asian with them. It was nice to see more than 400 Chapter has been recognized as the fastest growing exhibitors displaying their latest products. chapter of SLA as its membership has been increased about 3 times within last eight months. This is the Open Houses first time about 25 professionals attended SLA During the conference I attended many open houses conference from Asia. Ms. Janice, CEO, SLA, Ms. like of B&F Division, S&T Division, IT Division. I Linda Broussard, Ms. Paula and many other SLA found it's very useful especially for networking of officials also attended this meeting. There was a professionals. During the open houses I met many discussion about the achievements and future plans intellectuals and professionals in the filed of Library of the Asian Chapter. and Information Science.
Washington DC Washington DC is a very beautiful city. I visited many places in Washington DC including White House, Washington Monuments, US Capitol, Library of Congress, National Mall, Museums and many more place. I loved this city very much. I also spent 3 days in New York after the conference and visited Times Square, Statue of Liberty and other places in New York.
Suggestions My suggestions are that every library and information science professionals should attend SLA conference at least once in their professional career (Author with other professionals at Asian Chapter and if possible attend as many time as they can Breakfast Meeting) attend. SLA conference is such a wonderful {L to R : Cindy Xiang (China)- Student Award conference which never seen in other conferences Winner, Sheila L. Rosenthal- Award Chair S&T, around the world. I would suggest that fellow P.K.Jain- B&H International Librarian Award professionals should try in there organizations for Winner, Ruth Wolfish- IEEE, Scott Davidson funds especially for travel grant and if needed they (Singapore), Past President, Asian Chapter, K V can also approach SLA, Divisions and Chapters for Satyanarayana (India), Sushma Arora (India), Debal travel grants. Info Expo is that place where we can see C Kar (India)- 2008 B&H International Librarian the latest technology in our field. It is really a Award Winner and Sato Koyo (Japan)} wonderful conference which starts from 7:30 a.m. and continue till11:00 p.m.
SLA Asian Chapter News | Vol. 6 | Issue 1 | Spring-Summer 2010 7 My experience attending the I was very happy that I got the chance to attend the SLA 2009 Annual Conference in DC SLA Centennial Conference. At the Opening Session and Awards Presentation, I felt inspired by a series of awards that recognized professionals in various Xiang Yuanyuan fields for their numerous contributions. The Fudan University highlight at the opening session was the keynote address by Mr. Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of Shanghai, China State. Although Mr. Powell did not speak about librarians directly, I still found the speech quite Last year I received a forwarded email from the amazing which also proved it was possible to deliver a Information Center of the U.S. Embassy in Shanghai, very interesting speech without any slides or any China, about the 2009 Asian Student Awards other visual aids. He covered everything from his Announcement that offered an award for Library and many pursuits, his views on leadership, and his Information Science students to attend the Special efforts to modernize the U.S. Department of State. Libraries Association (SLA) annual conference in Some words by Mr. Powell left a deep impression on Washington, D.C. I applied and submitted the my mind, for example, “We had to change because we required resume, essay, and recommendation letter are in a new world- in a world of information by the deadline on the last day of 2008., It seemed explosion- information that needed to be turned into like making a New Year's wish, and I actually never knowledge, and it was time to catch up with dreamed of winning the award. In early April 2009, I technology.” Yes, when does change happen, and received an email that not only offered me a great when doesn't it? Information professionals and surprise but also definitely gave me a chance to future librarians must remember to think about how change my life. I could not believe that I won the to adjust to new roles in a time of great opportunities. award and would travel to America in June! The INFO-EXPO in the exhibit hall was the place After two months of preparing for the conference, where I experienced the latest technologies, tools, June had arrived. Excitement and also butterflies set and services from the top companies in the in as the serious countdown began towards the final information industry. Many databases of exhibitors days. June 12th was a big day for me. I took the flight like Dialog & ProQuest, EBSCO, ERIC, JSTOR, from Shanghai Pudong International Airport to OCLC, Springer and IEEE are commonly purchased Detroit and then to D.C. Fortunately, everything by most libraries of universities and institutes in went according to plan and after the 18-hour flight, I China to support academic research. Walking among finally felt my feet firmly on American soil. the booths I noticed an increased focus on real-time and near-real-time information which indicated that No matter how ready I thought I was, when I got into eventually all kinds of information will need to be the real dream land, everything was so different and I updated instantly. What was clear is that today's could strongly feel the culture shock. Although information professionals need to prepare Washington, D.C. is the capital of America, it strikes themselves to supply just this kind of timely me as an atypical American city since there are no information. skyscrapers, which indeed are prohibited by law. However, when visiting some famous attractions, I The four-day trip in DC was interesting and could feel the city is full of culture, history and meaningful for me as it was not only my first time to monuments. The Washington Monument at night visit the U.S. but also to attend such a big conference. and its reflection in the pool leading to the Lincoln It was wonderful to talk with such nice people at both Memorial was so impressive and stunning; the the Science & Technology Division Business and National World War II Memorial shows great honor Awards Breakfast and the Asian Chapter Breakfast to the people who devoted their lives to the peace and Meeting. I was proud to be part of this great freedom of the world. I also learned about the organization and the excellent information symbolic art and architecture of the Thomas professionals I met helped to reinforce my Jefferson Building during the Library of Congress confidence that librarians are charming, tour. knowledgeable, helpful, and important.
8 SLA Asian Chapter News | Vol. 6 | Issue 1 | Spring-Summer 2010 I would like to express my appreciation to the SLA the trip and also gave me valuable advice for my Science & Technology Division and the Asian future career. Chapter for giving me this great honor and making this trip possible even during such tough economic This experience of attending the SLA Centennial times. Thanks to all the people who looked after me Conference in Washington, D.C. will become an so kindly, especially to Sheila Rosenthal and her invaluable treasure of memories to be cherished husband, with whom I enjoyed interesting throughout my life. I am looking forward to meeting sightseeing and delicious western meals, and to Scott you in China some day in the future! Davidson who helped me with the arrangements for
SLA Asian Chapter Events in India during 2009-10
1. 26 February 2010 By V N Shukla, Director, “Meet with the SLA Centre for Development of President- Anne Caputo” Advanced Computing on Dinner at India (CDAC), Noida at International Centre, New NASSDOC, New Delhi, Delhi, India. India.
2. 22 February 2010 Lecture 6. 12 October 2009 at Pune, India half day workshop on “Creating the Future: on “The Future of the Information Profession: Five Global Trends Embedded Librarians and Beyond” Knowledge Professionals Should Understand” by 7. 10 October 2009 at Anne Caputo, President SLA Ahmedabad, India One day at NASSDOC, New Delhi, workshop on "Future India. Libraries and Librarians"
3. 13 February 2010 Talk on “Ontologies, thesauri and metadata standards as resource discovery tools” by Ms. Jeanette Regan, Director, Regan Consultants, 8. 9 October 2009 at Australia Location: Persistent Sytems Ltd. AT Pune, Jaipur, India one day India. International Seminar on “Libraries at Crossroads". 4. 16 January 2010 National Seminar on "Trends and Issues for Modern 9. 7 October 2009 at Delhi, India Lecture at 6:30 Libraries in Global p.m. “Advocating for the Value of Information Information Society” at Professionals in the Workplace” by Janice R. Lachance, CEO, SLA
10.22 August 2009 Lecture on “The Metamorphosis of Librarians to Knowledge Managers: The Road Bundelkhand University, Ahead” By Dr. C S Arora, Jhansi, India. More than Director (EDP), Office of 600 participants attended the RGI & Census the seminar. Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi at 5. 28 November 2009 Lecture on “Research issues NASSSDOC, New Delhi, in building Digital Library from Concept to reality” India.
SLA Asian Chapter News | Vol. 6 | Issue 1 | Spring-Summer 2010 9 SLA President visits TCS, India Mr. Kishore Ingale suggested establishing an online information system for the SLA Asian Chapter in line Ms. Anne Caputo, President SLA & Executive with call centre which TCS IRC is successfully Director, Dow Jones & Company and Ms. Rebecca practicing. He has offered all technical know-how Vargha, Librarian, University of North Carolina, and support to make it successful. He also raised Chapel Hill, USA visited the GG4 Delivery Centre, concern on the steep fee structure on tutorials offered TCS Gurgaon on 25th February 2010. by Click University. Mr. BP Prakash, Global IRC Head, Ms. Sushma Arora, Ms. Geetha V, Mr. Kishore Ingale and Mr. Ms. Anne Caputo, President SLA was impressed with Akhtar Perwez, Head of Resource Centre ICRA Ltd, TCS IRC's processes and achievements. She opined Gurgaon accompanied the guests. The dignitaries that the benchmarks defined by TCS IRC are on par visited GG4 IRC and were appreciative of the with global standards. She discussed and encouraged comprehensive facility with 50 seats for readers and the audience to get more involved in the social 15 workstations for browsing. networking sites like facebook, linkedin etc. and informed about the huge number of participation of Mr. Prakash presented an overview on the Tata individuals and professionals to these sites. Group / TCS, with special focus on the TCS Information Resource Centre. Highlighting the She emphasized that such social and networking sites achievements of TCS IRCs and the standards, are going to change the present style of interaction, benchmarks, policy and processes defined and communication and sharing of information. With practiced by the team, he also discussed the virtual regard to Click University fee structure, she assured reference desk facility launched on the Global that she will revert with inputs post discussion. Helpdesk platform. He briefly touched upon the Info Watch / bulletins, SDI Services and Outreach Ms. Rebecca appreciated the concept of best practice Activities, in addition to the branding of IRC's identification and mentioned that TCS IRC has products, services and feedback mechanism. already deployed a number of good practices. The SLA dignitaries thanked Mr. Prakash and others The methodology used for identification of best for the site visit, overview and active involvement in practices was conveyed and the concept of domain SLA activities. specialist teams and embedded librarianship in various domains within TCS was emphasized by Mr. Prakash. He assured the SLA President of a more active cooperation and participation of TCS associates in SLA programs.
L to R (Standing) : Sangeeta Bose, Kishore Ingale, Monika Budania, Sushma Harit, Anju Midha, Snehlata Sharma, Anuradha V, Manish Ranjan, Reetu Varma, Renu Kapoor, T. Vaishnavi, Kusum Thapliyal, Dawood Ahmad L to R : BP Prakash, Sushma Arora, Anne Caputo, L to R (Sitting) : Sushma Arora, B.P.Prakash, Anne Geetha V, Akhtar Parvez, Rebecca Vargha. Caputo, Geetha V., Rebecca Vargha
10 SLA Asian Chapter News | Vol. 6 | Issue 1 | Spring-Summer 2010 SLA Workshop co-convener for the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) India Council, serves on the Future of the Information Profession: Executive Committee of MCCIA and is the Chairman Embedded Librarians and Beyond 12 October 2009 of CII, Pune zonal council. In the past, Anand was the member of the Executive Committee of NASSCOM The workshop was held at the conference hall of the from 2005-09, President of SEAP from 2005-07 and Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE) Chairman of the Pune Chapter of CSI from 2003-05. which is one of the premier educational institutions of Pune. Dr. Deshpande started by saying that interaction with librarians by many people including students, The session began with a welcome speech by Dr. R.N. has lessened considerably over recent years. Rath of GIPE. He also gave an introduction to the Librarians are perceived as being those in a Gokhale institute and its library and mentioned that professional role who sit in libraries and issue books it has some of the oldest books in the world, some but do their best to discourage the handling of books dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries. to prevent damage to them. As software professional he had not felt the need for such an interaction in a This was followed by a formal welcome to the chief long time. However, when he was invited to the guest Dr. Anand Deshpande, CEO Persistent Systems workshop he did some research on the SLA web site Pune , keynote speaker Ms Janice Lachance CEO SLA www.SLA.org, as well as other links provided to him and Dr. Nagarajan registrar GIPE by Mr. Kishor by Ms Shubhada Nagarkar, Pune Univ. He has now Ingle, TCS, Mrs. Gadre of GIPE, Mrs. Suniti Panse realised what a great difference library professionals and Mr. Dahibhate. can make to the organization of the mass of data that is building up on the internet. Ms Meera Gaikaiwari who is the Country Representative of the SLA in India, then gave a brief Dr. Deshpande spoke of the Web 2.0 and the tools it background to the topic of the day. The term has provided for the organization of information and 'embedded librarian' is new to most people in India. converting it to knowledge. He mentioned that these It is similar in concept to 'embedded journalist' which tools use the concept of 'crowd sourcing' that enables was used during the Iraq war when many journalists interested people to attach tags to any piece of accompanied the troops to the war front and information and this has improved the search ability provided timely news feeds direct from the front. The of information as proved by sites like flickr.com. This SLA has been tackling the issue of making librarians method of collaborative classification is very more relevant in today's world and the first step was different from the structured taxonomies that are the concept of embedded librarian. usually required to be created by experts but has proved to be almost as effective. He also mentioned Dr. Nagarajan gave some background about the GIPE that all enterprises realize the importance of library which had been started by the Servants of collaborative methods and his company too has India Society and is now 104 years old. It was handed contributed to tools that encourage communication, over to the GIPE in 1930 when the Institute was collaboration and mobility between groups of people established. The GIPE is a multi-funded organization in geographically dispersed regions. with funds from the Govt. of Maharashtra as well as various Ministries in the Govt. of India. He also Dr. Deshpande also discussed the problem that all mentioned that the UGC has recently made a large companies face when trying to organize their grant for the digitisation and modernization of the documents in a way that makes them easily library. accessible. Most users prefer to use search engines like Google on the internet, rather than try to find the The next speaker was Dr. Anand Deshpande who was information in their company's intranet because it the chief guest of the day. Dr. Deshpande is well seems easier to use. Collecting information, known in Pune as the founder and CEO of Persistent organizing it and presenting it in a simple way is the Systems which is recognized the world over for its work that library professionals are trained in and it is innovative products and solutions. He is a member of precisely this training can be used by enterprises. the IEEE, IE(india), CSI and YPO. He is currently the
SLA Asian Chapter News | Vol. 6 | Issue 1 | Spring-Summer 2010 11 Dr. Deshpande was followed by Ms. Janice Lachance She went on to say that today was a holiday in the U.S. CEO SLA, who is currently visiting India and kindly to celebrate the discovery of the U.S. by Christopher agreed to deliver the keynote address at this Columbus. She wished to emphasize that the spirit workshop. Ms. Lachance is the former Director that drove Christopher Columbus to go beyond the (CEO) of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management boundaries of the known world was what was now (OPM), to which she was appointed by the then U.S. required to help library professionals redefine their President, Bill Clinton. She received her J.D. from roles in society. Ms. Janice talked about the 2 year Tulane University School of Law and B.A. from Alignment project that has been taken up by the SLA Manhanttanville College. Her accomplishments whose main goals were to recommend the way include creation of the online Click University, an forward for library professionals so that they align expanded public policy program, and a their interests with those of their customers and be comprehensive research effort to define the value recognized as important contributors to the strategic information professionals bring to organizations. goals of the organizations they work with.
Ms. Janice explained the findings of the Alignment Ms. Janice started by saying how impressed she was project in a succinct manner and completed her talk by the book collection she saw in the GIPE library and by giving some tips to all library professionals to said that not only was it a national treasure but a great improve their image in the organization. international resource. She thanked Dr. Deshpande for the effort he had made in researching the In the 2nd half of the event, eminent information activities of the SLA and the topic of the day. She also professionals, Dr. Shubhada Nagarkar, Dr. Medha thanked Ms. Meera Gaikaiwari for her valuable Joshi, Dr. Jayashree Kanetkar and Mrs. Vasumati contribution to the work of the SLA in India and for Sriganesh shared their experiences of working as an inviting her to Pune. Ms. Janice impressed the embedded librarian with the audience. audience by thanking them too for taking time off to attend the workshop in spite of the Diwali holdays Janice and Meera provided presentations on the SLA and the coming elections. which was followed by a presentation on PULISSA by Dr Shivani Segupta.
Report of the International Conference on Asian Special Libraries (ICoASL - 2008) Shaping the Future of Special Libraries: Beyond Boundaries
12 SLA Asian Chapter News | Vol. 6 | Issue 1 | Spring-Summer 2010 A three days “International Conference on Shaping the Future of Special Libraries: Beyond Boundaries” (ICoASL 2008) was organized by Asian Chapter of SLA in association with IASLIC and Society For Library Professionals during November 26-28, 2008 at India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi, India.
The well attended event sourced together more than (Stephen Abram, President, SLA) 400 participants ranging from Librarians, Activists, Information Scientists, Consultants, Delivering his presidential address, Mr. Stephen Publishers, CEOs and entrepreneurs both from Abram expressed his happiness over the organizing academia and industry representing more than 20 of conference by Asian Chapter and hoped that Asian countries including USA, UK, Switzerland, chapter will grow and will play useful role in the Indonesia, Pakistan, Laos, Korea, Singapore, Nepal, development of Special libraries.. Mr.Stephen Bangladesh and many more. Abram delineated the role SLA has played over the Spread over three days 14 technical sessions, 28 years in the context of several important issues like invited talks, nearly 70 paper contribution, product global warming and children education.” presentations, exhibition, poster presentation and two penal discussions conference witnessed plethora of sessions involving a galaxy of eminent resource persons.
The conference was marked by two highly power packed penal discussion on Role of Library Associations Career and Opportunities in LIS Profession comprising, of widely respected luminaries, academicians , Consultants, leaders, activists, University Librarians. The penal touched upon several issues of importance related to the philosophy and sprit of library profession, widening Deftly anchored by Mr. Shantanu Ganguly and career options, need for reengineering best practices Mr. Salek Chand for all three days, participating and providing a strong leadership to library delegates complimented the organizers for profession at large. organizing such a successful convention and bringing together so many diverse stakeholders and resource persons at a single platform and discussing issues both in context and threadbare. They found the contents of papers useful and helpful in brainstorming issues and problems confronting special libraries. Discussions on research findings and case studies as reported in conference paper helped them to identify challenges facing the information profession and led to emergence of several innovative ideas to identify new roles in emerging information environment. The conference offered opportunities to the participating delegates to put forth innovative ideas and promote cooperation and networking among them. P K Jain
SLA Asian Chapter News | Vol. 6 | Issue 1 | Spring-Summer 2010 13 rary Lib Pro or fo f s y s t io e i n c a o l
s S SOCIETY FOR LIBRARY PROFESSIONALS Upcoming Events in Asia B-535, MIG, East of Loni Road, Delhi- 110093 International Conference of Asian Special Partial Financial Assistances are available for Libraries (ICoASL) Students and Professionals in the field of Library and Information Science The second ICoASL will be held in Tokyo, Japan during 10-12 February 2011 organized by Asian For Students Chapter, Special Library Association (SLA) in 1. Partial financial assistance is available for the association with Japan Special Libraries students of LIS, who can not afford their tuition Association (JSLA). fee, books and other study material. Such type of students will be provided all the necessary Third ICoASL will be held in New Delhi, India support. during 15-17 February 2012. The first ICoASL was 2. Partial financial Assistance is available for the held in New Delhi, India during November 26-28, LIS students to present a paper in the 2008. Conferences in India, whose paper has been accepted but they can not afford the For more details please contact: registration fee and travel. Such students will be provided registration fee and sleeper class Kyoko Sato return railway ticket. President, Asian Chapter, SLA For Professionals Kokos Consulting 1. Partial financial Assistance is available for the Ohkura 4-2-20-501 LIS professionals to present a paper in the Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, 157-0074 Japan Conferences in India, whose paper has been E-mail: [email protected] accepted but their organization is not providing them the registration fee and travel. Such P K Jain professionals will be provided registration fee Librarian and sleeper class/ A.C. three tier return railway Institute of Economic Growth ticket. Delhi- 110007. India Mobile (Cell): +919899110787 The decision of the Committee Members will be E-mail: [email protected] final in all cases. LIS student and professionals may send their request at least two month prior at the following e- Description mail: [email protected] The increasing prevalence of digital information Or contact to: systems and technologies compels libraries across the globe to update systems and provide P K Jain (09899110787) [email protected] users with a digital experience outside the P R Goswami (09818981644) [email protected] confines of the structural library, providing useful Debal C Kar (09811392242) [email protected] benefits to the user while creating new areas of concern such as digital information preservation. Book Release Developing Sustainable Digital Libraries: Socio- Technical Perspectives presents a compilation of Developing Sustainable Digital Libraries: PREMIER REFERENCE SOURCE Socio-Technical Perspectives Developing articles discussing the benefits and challenges of Sustainable Digital Libraries digital information and library digitization. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61520-767-1 Socio-Technical Perspectives Scholars from around the globe investigate web ISBN13: 9781615207671 application development, techniques for digital EISBN13: 9781615207688 conversion, composition of digital libraries, Publisher : IGI Global, USA Tariq Ashraf, Jaideep Sharma, Puja Gulati digital environ-ments, and much more. This Author(s)/Editor(s): Tariq Ashraf (University of Delhi, reference work proves valuable to the study and India); Jaideep Sharma (Indira Gandhi National Open enhancement of digital information systems and University, India); Puja Anand Gulati (University of technologies, and in assisting practitioners in the Delhi, India) implementation and building of such systems and Copyright: 2010 applications.
14 SLA Asian Chapter News | Vol. 6 | Issue 1 | Spring-Summer 2010 Asian Chapter In News
Asian Chapter has been recognized as a "Fastest Growing Chapter" of SLA for the year 2009. Mr. P K Jain Membership Chair, Asian Chapter has been awarded top recruiter in SLA's Member-Get-a-Member campaign. As the winner, he will receive a free conference registration for the upcoming SLA Annual Conference & Info-Expo in New Orleans.
SLA Asian Chapter News | Vol. 6 | Issue 1 | Spring-Summer 2010 15 Editors' Note : Register for SLA 2010! Welcome to our new Asian Chapter Members Join SLA 13-16 June in captivating New Orleans for the Ajit P Agale N Laxman Rao SLA 2010 Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO. With more Anil Kumar Hanumappa Namdev M Kale than 250 sessions and panels; endless networking Anuradha Kakkar Pragnesh H Parekh opportunities; and the high-octane INFO-EXPO hall, this Babita R K Verma is one conference you can't afford to miss! We would love to Banalata W Das S L Faisal get together with Asian Chapter members. Chandrika A Hegde Sangita Gupta Chhaya Sharma Sanjay Banvar If you are attending, please contact Ms Kyoko Sato Dhanya Kurup Shivmohan R Kahar
Asian chapter of SLA was established in September 1999. The Asian chapter is one of the biggest chapters, covering a Click University Courses Webinars large geographical area consisting of over 20 countries, Click University Webinars give SLA members access to namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, engage in a live interactive Web-based presentation. Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Members need to have a computer with an Internet Myanmar, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, connection and a telephone only. Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Presently there are more than 200 members of the Asian The Webinars use Web-based visuals and audio Chapter. There are about 130 members of SLA from India. conferencing and are a great way to learn without leaving the workplace. The dates and topics are listed below. Webinars are typically held on Wednesday from 2:00 pm Why Join SLA? - 3:30 pm eastern U.S. time.
Membership of SLA introduces you to an international More information can be found at : community of information professionals. You can build http://www.sla.org/content/learn/members/webinars/ career networks, and promote professional development. index.cfm The SLA culture will help you learn, and share ways to Contributions to next Asian Chapter Newsletter turning information into corporate decision-making aid We're always eager to receive articles for the Asian Chapter m o c . l In particular, you can: Newsletter. Please send articles about your i a m t
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