Objectives and Responsibilities
The major objective of this group is to conduct various training courses from time to time depending on the requirements. INFLIBNET has been conducting the training courses of short and long duration and meetings etc, through this group. National Convention CALIBER and PLANNER are regular feature of INFLIBNET under this group. Several other types of training courses and workshops are conducted in collaboration with various national agencies like NASSDOC (ICSSR), All India Radio, ICAR, KVS etc. The group will also assist in preparing libraries for automation, identifying universities for funding, follow-up assistance etc.
Regional Training Programme - IRTPLA is one of the popular programmes started by the group in recent times and a short duration course, conducted at different universities to implement automation at college libraries. The response to this course is very high and it is able to attract many states and conducted more than 55 courses across the country covering most of the states. Many more such courses are being planned this year to cover the remaining areas.
Major Activities
Organising:
- Training Courses
- Workshops/Seminars
- Specialised training programmes/workshops/courses
- Onsite Training Programmes
- Tutorials
- CALIBER (Convention on Automation of Libraries in Education and Research Institutes)
- PLANNER (Promotion of Library Automation and Networking in North Eastern Region)
- Preparing libraries for Automation
- Funding of Universities (through UGC)
- Follow up of assistance, and managing the INFLIBNET Centre Library
Training Programmes
- Long Duration Courses
Four-week training course - Computer Application to Library and Information Services (CALIS).
These four-week intensive training programmes, focusing on practical aspects, are conducted regularly in use of computers to prepare the operational staff working in the university libraries. Twenty such training courses have been conducted and more than 400 library professionals have been trained.
- Workshops/Seminars
Workshop on Automation and Networking of University Libraries under INFLIBNET Programme (WANULIP).
These workshops are mainly meant for senior library staff, particularly University Librarians and Deputy Librarians. Focus is on managing automation, networking and implementation of INFLIBNET in respective university libraries. These are seven days workshops and are more of interactive in nature. So far, seven such workshops have been held and more than 142 executives have taken the benefit.
- Collaborative Training Courses
INFLIBNET Centre conducts collaborative Programmes on behalf of originations on request. Such Programmes are very specialized training courses and focus on specific subjects and automation of specialized libraries. In the past, we have conducted 5 such collaborative training programmes with NASSDOC (ICSSR), Regional Training Institute of All India Radio and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghatan.
INFLIBNET Centre has conducted specialised training programmes for the library professionals working in agricultural universities and research institutions.
Ten such training programmes comprising in batch of 20-25 participants. Three workshops were conducted for heads of the agricultural librarians. All these programmes were sponsored by ICAR under the NATP - World Bank Project.
- Conducting Specialized Training Courses
Besides these above activities, a few specially designed programmes, which are under planning now, will focus on MARC21, Telecommunication, Advanced Networking, HTML and Web Design Techniques and Tool, E-Learning, Digital Technology INFLIBNET Products and Services etc.
- SOUL Orientation Training Programmes
To provide further impetus for implementation of the SOUL software and problem solving on site, one week/four days training programmes are conducted by the INFLIBNET Staff. These programmes are held on the premises of the University Library covered under the programme or at INFLIBNET Centre. As of now, such training programmes have been conducted at 40 sites, training large number of staff members.
- IRTPLA (INFLIBNET Regional Training Program In Library Automation)
In order to meet large number of libraries INFLIBNET has made a beginning by conducting the regional level training emphasizing the local needs and language for implementation of automation in the college libraries. The college librarians participating in the program will be paid TA/DA up to second class. These programmes are becoming popular with large number of libraries are covered in less time. In this direction we have already drawn up a detailed program. INFLIBNET provides financial assistance to the universities for conducting this type training programmes. More than 56 training programmed conducted so far.
Annual Conventions
CALIBER: A National Convention
For the effective implementation of this giant network, involving large number of universities, spread all over the country, frequent interaction among all those involved in the process is required at least once a year. To provide a platform for such an interaction, CALIBER (Convention for Automation of Libraries in Education and Research Institutes) was introduced in 1994. This brings together, university library staff, computer professionals and others interested in library automation and networking. This event has been very successful and has become popular amongst professionals. So far, 15 conventions have been held in collaboration with different universities.
PLANNER: A National Convention for North Eastern Region
PLANNER stands for "Promotion of Library Automation and Networking in North Eastern Region". INFLIBNET has been organizing this event in collaboration with universities and other academic institutions located in North East of India. This Convention provides a unique forum to the library professionals, information providers and users involved in automation and networking of libraries to come together and interact on the subjects of mutual interest in the region. The Third PLANNER is organised for the library and allied professionals in the North Eastern Region at Assam University, Silchar. The First and Second PLANNER was held in North Eastern Hill University, Shillong and Manipur University, Imphal respectively.
In-House Lecture Series
For the benefit of the staff working in the centre, Director has initiated to conduct in-house lecture series by our own scientists on one or the other areas. These lectures are arranged normally on the last working day of the month. Some times external experts are called for such programmes to deliver talk to improve the skills of the staff working at the centre. There are already 4 such programmes conducted and several such programmes will come up soon. Some of the areas identified under this series are:
- Internet Engineering - In Libraries
- Library Consortia
- Cyber Piracy in the New Millennium
- On going march towards Digital Libraries
- 3G wireless Links
- Web Enabled Technologies
- Natural Language Computer Searching
- Spatial Information Technology
- Video Conferencing
- Creating Web Accessible Databases
Infrastructure
The Centre has very well equipped computer laboratory and lecture hall to facilitate for about 25 persons at a time. The computer laboratory has Intel PIV and higher systems with latest software applications loaded. All the systems are peer to peer connected and linked to the internet. The lab can facilitate for all type of training programmes viz. Internet based training courses, Web design & hosting, Networking, SOUL etc. The centre has very good faculty also to conduct different type of training programmes. The group has prepared good number of course material and updated time-to-time to supplement the training programmes.
