Establishment of a digital library to support agricultural research, education and extension in India

Twenty-four Universities and more than three hundred specialized institutions and non governmental organizations are engaged in agricultural research, education, extension, and developmental activities in India. Altogether they generate a vast ocean of information which consists of about 400 doctoral thesis, 12000 papers and 2500 books, journals, audio visual productions and other documents in a year. But even though sufficient computer and communication systems are available information is not shared or properly organized and disseminated within these institutions. This study examines the problems of information/knowledge transfer in agricultural sector in India and how the already implemented technological advances in hardware, data compression procedures and software implementation can be utilized to pool the information resources and to develop a national level Digital Library on Agriculture. The plan of the library consisting of a National Centre of Digitised documents and a site connected to other related sites and databases, the web server and other softwares involved, the type of collections/documents to be digitised, the proper utilisation of the existing network and communication links to make it accessible are discussed. Minimum standards for computation facilities and communication links essential at the participating/contributing institutes are suggested. The paper also stresses the role of Digital Librarian in massive digitalization, storage, indexing, access search, coordination and management of universal information. How far such an Electronic Library can help to attain efficient operation of fully integrated management of agricultural systems is pointed out