Elsevier Library Connect Newsletter: 5 Questions: With Jai Haravu, Managing Trustee, Kesavan Institute of Information and Knowledge Management, Hyderabad, India

Volume 6 • Number 2
April 2008
ISSN: 1549-3725
Subscribe for free, View PDF

Theme: Serving Millennials

welcome

Introduction by Jay Katzen LISR article on tweens earns award

features

Commons, chat and collaboration: How we’re connecting with Millennials at Murdoch University Library The future of the undergraduate library: Asking questions with too many answers and too many opportunities Millennial disconnects with publishers and libraries Undergrads’ research habits, motivators and attitudes: What studies tell us

place & space

How we're moving to a primarily digital library How we’re redesigning academic libraries to keep them as the center of campus How we're transforming our library spaces and mindset

center of attention

Librarians Speak Up:
How is your library innovating to support Millennials? 5 Questions with Jai Haravu

community connections

The ScienceDirect High School Program:
Participants report excellent results 2007 Elsevier Foundation awards support initiatives worldwide Looking to help researchers stay connected? Try TopCited and 2collab

behind the scenes

Talking with a Turkish university librarian about lending eBook readers Rights Spot: Why does Elsevier request transfer of copyright?

on the road

10 weeks @ the University of Pittsburgh Libraries: Realizing the differences…

staying connected

Customer Service Focus: How does Elsevier answer queries about Scopus and ScienceDirect? Ask UCD: Does serving Millennials affect the design ,and usability of products or services? Information and Organization publishes award-winning paper Electronic Theses & Dissertation Awards launch Jay talks about the value of eBooks Wow! TrainingDesk keeps getting more exciting Upcoming Events 2008 Library Connect Editorial Team

5 Questions:
With Jai Haravu, Managing Trustee, Kesavan Institute of Information and Knowledge Management, Hyderabad, India

Jai Haravu

1. What is NewGenLib?

NewGenLib, or New Generation in Library Automation, is new open-source library automation software developed in India and accommodating multilingual data entry, storage and retrieval.

Why did you develop NewGenLib?

Most libraries in India (and probably in other developing countries) do not use international metadata standards such as MARC-21 or Dublin Core. Library automation software available commercially (and developed) in India did not support these standards adequately enough. Library databases in India were thus incompatible with each other and with international sources of such information, and there was no way one could build good-quality union catalogs of resources available in libraries across the nation.
Web-based integrated library management systems is the need of the hour. Merely providing an OPAC is not an approach we thought adequate.
Most library automation systems supported single library automation, while the real need was for a solution allowing networking of libraries, cost-effectively. This is possible by leveraging the Web as the platform on which to network libraries, as in the West.
Most library automation systems available did not support multilingual data entry, storage and retrieval. Books in Indian languages had to be entered in transliterated Roman script.
Most library automation systems available did not support copy cataloging via import (directly as ISO-2709 files) or via Z39.50 connections/searching.

During its development, were you influenced by information usage trends among younger researchers?

To a certain extent, yes, we were influenced by the fact that younger researchers (students, faculty) use the Web a lot for information access. But the greater influence was trends in library systems in the developed world and the software and metadata paradigms they had adopted.

How has NewGenLib been developed and how is it being implemented in India and elsewhere?

NewGenLib is the result of collaboration between the Kesavan Institute of Information and Knowledge Management (KIIKM), a professional trust (an NGO), and Verus Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (VSPL), a commercial software company, both in Hyderabad. KIIKM provided domain knowledge, and VSPL provided software development. KIIKM also helped in initial promotion in professional meetings, functionality testing, user interface advice, knowledge of application environments as they should influence the design of the software, and user documentation. The development took almost 4 years. The software now has over 120 installations in India and three other countries: Syria, Sudan and Cambodia.

What are the main ways NewGenLib differs from other library automation software?

We believe that it is like many Western offerings but with the promise of better local support and better understanding of local practices and application environments. The software is now open source under the GNU GPL, and already many people have downloaded the software. The community support system on sourceforge.net is also active.

www.newgenlib.com