DELNET – Developing Library NetworkThe Network that Evolved into a Major Network

H. K. KaulDirector, DELNET

Developing Library Network

Introduction

Condition of Libraries in Delhi in the 1980s

Panel Discussion – January 7, 1988

Committee Set Up

The Feasibility Report

NISSAT Support

Coordination Committee

CMC

Feasibility Report Accepted April 1990

O Phase of DELNET

Consultative Comm. on Rationalisation of Periodicals

Training Programmes

E-mail facility introduced – X-400

Rationalisation – 40 lakhs saved - January 1992; Much more thereafter

Indo-British Meet – 1992 Registration recommended

Registration of DELNET as a Society

NISSAT requested to be permanent member of DELNET Board

Libraries were asked to come forward to host DELNET

The host institution had to give a letter agreeing to giving its address as the registered office.

To this I got the following response:

NISSAT did not issue a letter confirming that it agrees to be a permanent member on the DELNET Board;

No institution came forward to act as the host institution for DELNET.

No institution, including IIC was prepared to give its address as the registered office of DELNET.

DELNET registered finally at home address of Dr. H. K. Kaul at L-67A, Malviya Nagar, New Delhi 110017.

Initial IIC Approval

NISSAT Support

In return to raise money through training programmes and return money to NISSAT

Failure of this arrangement

NIC Support

Director General, NIC Dr. N. Seshagiri gave support to DELNET in 1993

India International Centre (IIC)

Online Union Catalogues and Union Lists

The DELNET Online Union Catalogues were formally inaugurated on February 21, 1994 by Dr. (Mrs.) Kapila Vatsyayan, Academic Director, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and a Life Trustee of IIC. At that time we had 91,957 records in the Union Catalogue of Books.

The Building

The Land : Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)

Application to JNU in 1993 for land

Shri P. N. Haksar, Chancellor; Prof. Y. K. Alagh, Vice Chancellor

Land allotted in 1994 – one acre

The Architect : C. P. Kukreja & Co

Building Grant from the Ministry of Culture

Rs. One crore sanctioned by the Ministry in 2002

The Building

Laying of Foundation Stone for DELNET Building

23rd December 2002

Construction of the Building

DELNET Shifts to its Own Building in JNU Campus

October 6, 2005

National / International Initiatives

National Bibliographic Database

IXth Five Year Plan, 1997-2002. The Working Group had made the following precise recommendation:

‘Among the different city networks, it has been found that DELNET has emerged as an operational library network in India with 60 libraries in Delhi and other states as its members. It has been developing on-line union catalogue of books and periodicals. It is recommended that DELNET be supported to create National database and develop on OCLC pattern covering all subjects.’

National / International Initiatives

National Bibliographic Database

On the basis of this recommendation I approached the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Culture in 1996 to support the creation of a National Bibliographic Database.

International Institute of Tamil Studies(IITS), Chennai Punjabi University, Patiala

Andhra University Library, Visakhapatnam

Asiatic Society of Bombay, Mumbai

Asiatic Society, Kolkata

National / International Initiatives

AICTE - DELNET MOU

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and DELNET signed an MOU in 2001 to network libraries of the technical institutions approved by AICTE.

Other National Seminars / Workshops

Indo-British Meet on Library Networking (1993) National Workshop on Library Network Services (1994) Networking of Public Libraries in South Asia (1996) Seminar on Australian and Indian Libraries: The Nature, Demands

and Special Needs (1997) Modernisation of Oriental Libraries. January 5, 2000. National Round Table on Modernisation and Networking of Libraries

in India National Seminar on the Book in the 21st Century

National / International Initiatives

International Cooperation / Participation

The Library Networks Around the World

BLCMP (Birmingham Libraries Cooperative Maintenance Project) LASER (London and South Eastern Library Region)

CISTI (Canadian Institute for Scientific and Technical Information)

CAN/OLE (Canadian Online Enquiry Service)

OCLC

VALNET (Veterans Affairs Library Network)

FEDLINK Network Operations.etc.

National / International Initiatives

SAARC and the Other Countries

ICONLIS

National Knowledge Commission (NKC)

NAAC

SIRO

Software Research

Training Programmes and Workshops

Coordination Units

DELNET Consortium

The Publications

Delnet Newsletter

Director’s Reports

NACLIN Proceedings and Other Publications

DELNET Lectures

DELNET Annual Lectures

DELNET instituted the Annual Lectures in 1998. They were delivered by the following eminent personalities:

Mr. N. Vittal Prof. M. G. K. Menon. Dr. V. S. Arunachalam, Prof. N. Balakrishnan, Dr. R. Natarajan, Chairman, Dr. N. Seshagiri, Dr. N. Vijayaditya, Prof. P. M. Bhargava, Prof. V. S. Prasad, Mr. Stephen Abram, Prof. S. V. Raghavan, Dr. S. S. Mantha, Mr. Brent Mai, Dr. Gulshan Rai

Other Lectures by Eminent Scholars

In India - 4246

Delnet Members No. of Institutions Delnet Members No. of Institutions

Andhra Pradesh 728 Madhya Pradesh 323

Andman & Nicobar 2 Maharashtra 330

Arunachal Pradesh 2 Manipur 4

Assam 12 Meghalaya 2

Bihar 15 Mizoram 2

Chandigarh 8 Nagaland 2

Chhattisgarh 48 Orissa 75

Delhi 241 Puducherry 19

Goa 8 Punjab 135

Gujarat 183 Rajasthan 240

Haryana 227 Sikkim 5

Himachal Pradesh 33 Tamil Nadu 647

Jammu & Kashmir 20 Tripura 3

Jharkhand 17 Uttar Pradesh 473

Karnataka 195 Uttarakhand 55

Kerala 118 West Bengal 74

DELNET Membership: A Statistical Profile

DELNET Membership: A Statistical Profile

Outside India - 23

Delnet Members No. of Institutions

Nepal 3

Oman 4

Pakistan 1

Philippines 1

Sri Lanka 7

United Arab Emirates 3

USA 4

Total Members – 4269 (As on November 12, 2012)

DELNET Union Catalogues : A Statistical Profile

Delnet DatabaseDelnet Database No. of RecordsNo. of Records

Union Catalogue of Books – CCF 1,28,91,696

Union List of Current Periodicals 33,944

Union Catalogue of Periodicals 20,235

Database of Periodical Articles 9,22,042

CD-ROM Database 22,234

Union List of Video Recordings 6,000

Union List of Sound Recordings 1,025

Database of Theses and Dissertations 70,293

Database of E-books 1613

The Future of DELNET