Open Source Software for Integrated Library System : Relative Appropriatness in the Indian Context

Libraries in all fields of human activity are involved in collection, preservation, management, and effective distribution of information that determines the quality of development in concerned sectors including that of higher education and research. Now information is flooding and along with that the recorded information to be managed; which necessitates automation of libraries to make the information stored in their collections useful and retrievable. Hitherto the cost of commercial packages for automation has prevented millions of libraries from using those tools. The recent emergence of Open Source Software has drastically reduced the cost of automation as well provided tools for new and innovative information services. The present research work focuses on comparative study of library automation packages with stress to appropriateness of Open Source Integrated Library Systems (OSILS) for countries like India. Study is based on a survey among library professionals from India using commercial and OSILS packages. The sample users belong to 601 libraries covering university, college, school, special and research libraries using any one of the integrated library systems. Packages covered is limited to the software /versions used in India. The survey found that features users of library automation packages consider are cost effectiveness, technical infrastructure, staff skills, software functionality and the availability of support, documentation and community. Study revealed that OSILS provides technological freedom and so is changing the landscape of library automation. Survey found Koha to be most popular in India. Suggests solutions to improve the situation. Few recommendations are provided to help libraries to choose suitable OSILS by understanding their advantages. Opines that being an attractive alternative to costly commercial package for any type of libraries OSILS, which is free to experiment and easy to use and customize for local requirements needs to be promoted in Indian libraries

Transition from Closed to Open: Case of Integrated Library Automation Software in India

Prior to Open Source Integrated Library Systems (OSILSs) availability, libraries found two alternatives to automate their housekeeping operations - either develop an exclusive in-house software system or purchase a commercial one. Commercial packages differ with each other on pricing and license agreements and function modules. Now, many libraries are shifting from such traditional proprietary automation systems where the cost of software is assumed to be a major concern, to free/open source system considering the flexibility and adaptability in using and customizing it to fit their local needs. The study evaluates the rate of adoption of OSILS in Indian libraries to understand the trend in comparison with proprietary systems available. Also examines attitude and perceptions of Indian library community towards adopting OSILS. The challenges confronted by the library community in adopting OSILS and the reasons for migrating to it are also examined. The study found Koha to be a favored OSILS option to which many Indian libraries are migrating. The study also found that acceptance of OSILS in higher education libraries in India is much higher than that of school and public library system where proprietary systems still dominate

Opportunistic mobile social networks: architecture, privacy, security issues and future directions

Mobile Social Networks and its related applications have made a very great impact in the society. Many new technologies related to mobile social networking are booming rapidly now-a-days and yet to boom. One such upcoming technology is Opportunistic Mobile Social Networking. This technology allows mobile users to communicate and exchange data with each other without the use of Internet. This paper is about Opportunistic Mobile Social Networks, its architecture, issues and some future research directions. The architecture and issues of Opportunistic Mobile Social Networks are compared with that of traditional Mobile Social Networks. The main contribution of this paper is regarding privacy and security issues in Opportunistic Mobile Social Networks. Finally, some future research directions in Opportunistic Mobile Social Networks have been elaborated regarding the data's privacy and security

Enhanced muscarinic M1 receptor gene expression in the corpus striatum of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

Acetylcholine (ACh), the first neurotransmitter to be identified, regulate the activities of central and peripheral functions through interactions with muscarinic receptors. Changes in muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) have been implicated in the pathophysiology of many major diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). Previous reports from our laboratory on streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats showed down regulation of muscarinic M1 receptors in the brainstem, hypothalamus, cerebral cortex and pancreatic islets. In this study, we have investigated the changes of acetylcholine esterase (AChE) enzyme activity, total muscarinic and muscarinic M1 receptor binding and gene expression in the corpus striatum of STZ – diabetic rats and the insulin treated diabetic rats. The striatum, a neuronal nucleus intimately involved in motor behaviour, is one of the brain regions with the highest acetylcholine content. ACh has complex and clinically important actions in the striatum that are mediated predominantly by muscarinic receptors. We observed that insulin treatment brought back the decreased maximal velocity (Vmax) of acetylcholine esterase in the corpus striatum during diabetes to near control state. In diabetic rats there was a decrease in maximal number (Bmax) and affinity (Kd) of total muscarinic receptors whereas muscarinic M1 receptors were increased with decrease in affinity in diabetic rats. We observed that, in all cases, the binding parameters were reversed to near control by the treatment of diabetic rats with insulin. Real-time PCR experiment confirmed the increase in muscarinic M1 receptor gene expression and a similar reversal with insulin treatment. These results suggest the diabetes-induced changes of the cholinergic activity in the corpus striatum and the regulatory role of insulin on binding parameters and gene expression of total and muscarinic M1 receptors

Designing a Comprehensive Information System for Safeguarding the Cultural Heritage: Need for Adopting Architectural Models and Quality Standards

The cultural heritage of any region is an integral part of the life of the people there irrespective of their community, caste, religion, and the social and economic status. As man continues his journey forward from the position at which his forefathers left him conservation of heritage assets, especially knowledge embedded in them, is essential for future generations and sustainable development. The study discusses the need for developing and managing a comprehensive information system that can preserve, conserve and retrieve the knowledge related to heritage assets in a single platform. The requirement of adopting internationally accepted guidelines, policies, methods, and standards and practices for managing heritage information is important and it has economic, legal, and technological concerns. The paper emphasizes necessity of adopting suitable architectural models and quality standards to design information systems to safeguard cultural heritage assets

Role of Libraries in Enhancing the Research Visibility and Collaboration of Academics

Promoting collaboration among the academics can improve the quality and visibility of research at global level. This paper discusses publication strategies that can help to achieve maximum research visibility and enhance the chances of collaboration among the academic and research community. Also presents how research and publication marketing tools such as Researcher Identifiers and Profiles, Academic Social Networking Sites, Online Reference Management Tools, Blogging and Online Magazines, Personal or Institutional Websites and Open Repository System can support in disseminating the scholarly publications for its optimal visibility. Stresses the role of librarians in guiding the academic and research community to use publication marketing tools, which can improve the visibility of their research and help them to create collaborative network

Distinguish Yourself from Someone: Role of Researcher Profiles in the Academic Environment

This paper discusses the different types of researcher profile platforms used by the academic community, their advantages, and limitations. Awareness, usage, and application of researcher profiles for various utilities with reference to the faculties of the Central University of Kerala have also been examined in this paper. The study found that the majority of the faculty members have created at least one or other researcher profile; however, faculties from the Science discipline were found to be more familiar with the researcher profile system, whereas Humanities, Arts, and Social Science disciplines are not explored the facility efficaciously. The study suggests that irrespective of the discipline in which the faculty belongs, libraries have to play a vital role in educating the academic community on the importance of having a researcher profile to maximize their online reach

Publication Trend in Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal) : A Scientometric Approach

Scientometrics is an effective method to quantitatively analyse the productivity and progress of all forms of written communication. This study aims to examine the scientific research productivity on Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal) during 1998-2019. Required data was collected from Scopus database. The year wise distribution of articles, relative growth rate, doubling time, collaboration coefficient, country and affiliation wise distribution, citation patterns etc., were analysed. Findings revealed that the highest numbers of articles were published in the year 2019 and lowest in 1998. In 2013, there was no single article. The highest contribution was countrywise Nigeria and institution wise University of Ibadan. Study also revealed the average citation per paper was 1.51. The paper 'Using Google Analytics for improving library website content and design: A case study' by Fang W. received a citation of 67 and ranked as the highly cited paper

Curcumin modulates dopaminergic receptor, CREB and phospholipase c gene expression in the cerebral cortex and cerebellum of streptozotocin induced diabetic rats

Curcumin, an active principle component in rhizome of Curcuma longa, has proved its merit for diabetes through its anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties. This study aims at evaluating the effect of curcumin in modulating the altered dopaminergic receptors, CREB and phospholipase C in the cerebral cortex and cerebellum of STZ induced diabetic rats. Radioreceptor binding assays and gene expression was done in the cerebral cortex and cerebellum of male Wistar rats using specific ligands and probes. Total dopaminergic receptor binding parameter, Bmax showed an increase in cerebral cortex and decrease in the cerebellum of diabetic rats. Gene expression studies using real time PCR showed an increased expression of dopamine D1 and D2 receptor in the cerebral cortex of diabetic rats. In cerebellum dopamine D1 receptor was down regulated and D2 receptor showed an up regulation. Transcription factor CREB and phospholipase C showed a significant down regulation in cerebral cortex and cerebellum of diabetic rats. We report that curcumin supplementation reduces diabetes induced alteration of dopamine D1, D2 receptors, transcription factor CREB and phospholipase C to near control. Our results indicate that curcumin has a potential to regulate diabetes induced malfunctions of dopaminergic signalling, CREB and Phospholipase C expression in cerebral cortex and cerebellum and thereby improving the cognitive and emotional functions associated with these regions. Furthermore, in line with these studies an interaction between curcumin and dopaminergic receptors, CREB and phospholipase C is suggested, which attenuates the cortical and cerebellar dysfunction in diabetes. These results suggest that curcumin holds promise as an agent to prevent or treat CNS complications in diabetes