LISQuiz.com

Today, I came across this website/ blog called LISQuiz.com which provides free UGC NET/SET online tests - Objective questions in library and information science. After going through the resource I find that it is very useful to all library and information professionals and students who are preparing for the upcoming NET/ SET exams to be held in the month of December 2013. 

One more initiative of this blog is the upcoming free online coaching for UGC NET Examination (exclusive for Library and Information Science) December 2013.

Wish all those preparing for the UGC NET Examinations All the very Best.

Book Review: What Young India Wants by Chetan Bhagat

Title: What Young India Wants
Author: Chetan Bhagat
Publisher: Rupa & co., New Delhi
ISBN: 978-81-291-2021-2
Pages: 181
Genre: Non-Fiction


What Young India Wants by Chetan Bhagat
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is the first non-fiction book (an anthology of his essays, speeches and columns) by Chetan Bhagat, the columnist, speaker and author. His books on fiction have been made into films also.

This book deals with the social issues, political issues and the Youth power especially their aspirations on and about India. Being Chetan Bhagat, the author has wonderfully done justice to the topic. The book is not only a page turner but also it churns the minds of the readers. Some solutions have been provided for certain burning issues that are faced by the youth population of our country. I would recommend this book to be read not only by the youth but others as well.

My rating: 4/5


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Book Review: Men of Steel by Vir Sanghvi

Title: Men of Steel: India's Business Leaders in candid conversation
Author: Vir Sanghvi
Publisher: Roli Books, New Delhi
ISBN: 9788174366139


Men Of Steel: India's Business leaders in candid conversation by Vir Sanghvi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book by the well known journalist Vir Sanghvi, contains the candid conversations of 11 eminent business leaders of India who have made a mark on the business map of India. They are: Ratan Tata of Tata Group, Nandan Nilekani of Infosys, Kumar Mangalam Birla of Aditya Birla Group, Sunil Bharti Mittal of Airtel, Rajeev Chandrasekhar currently an MP, Azim Premji of Wipro, Subhash Chandra of ZeeTV, Uday Kotak of Kotak Group of companies, Bikki Oberoi of East India Hotels group, Nusli Wadia of Bombay Dyeing and Vijay Mallya of Kingfisher fame. As said by the author in the preface, each profile was put in 2000 words for the Hindustan Times, Mumbai edition under the HT Leadership series.

What I liked about the books is the format of the book which one can easily read and understand in as less as 2000 words for each of the 11 personalities. The book shows each of the 11 business leaders along with their struggles in life, their flamboyance et al. At the beginning of each chapter it is also laced with quotations by the 11 business leaders which makes it more enjoyable to read and understand. It is a very useful book not only for students of business management and for those aspiring to be future business leaders but also to the general public at large to understand the lives of business leaders who have put India on the World Map of Business.

I was able to finished reading this book in a matter of 12 hours. If more business leaders were included it would have served a greater purpose.
My rating: 4/5


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Ranganathan

On August 12, 2012, In India we celebrated Librarian's Day, being the Birth Anniversary of the Father of Library Science in India, Dr. S. R. Ranganathan. Today I came across this article "Rediscovering Ranganathan" by David Weinberger on Library Soup weblog here: 
http://library-soup.blogspot.in/2012/08/rediscovering-ranganathan-by-david.html

The above article talks about how Colon Classification developed by Ranganathan in 1933 has grown into the most useful systems for organization of information in the internet age.
The article can be read here: http://semanticstudios.com/publications/forrester.pdf

Also, I came across this wonderful saying as given by Terry Pratchett about Librarian's mentioned on Candy Schwartz's website. I find it really interesting, amusing and all the more fascinating being a Library professional myself.

Librarians for SVYM

V-LEAD (TRAC - Training, Research, Advocacy and Consultancy) wing of of Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement) are in the look out of librarians with 6 months to 2 years of relevant experience.preferrably a male candidate willing to work in shift(12 noon to 8:00 pm), with following activities tentatively. You can also visit www.tracsvym.wordpress.com which will provide details of all opening details.

Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM) is a development organization, engaged in
building a new civil society in India through its grassroots to policy-level action in Health,
Education and Community Development sectors

Tentative job description:

Keep records of circulation and materials.

Supervise budgeting, planning, and personnel activities.

Check books in and out of the library.

Explain use of library facilities, resources, equipment, and services, and provide information about library policies.

Code, classify, and catalog books, publications, films, audiovisual aids, and other library materials based on subject matter or standard library classification systems.

Direct and train library staff in duties such as receiving, shelving, researching, cataloging, and equipment use.

Respond to customer complaints, taking action as necessary.

Organize collections of books, publications, documents, audiovisual aids, and other reference materials for convenient access.

Develop/amend library policies and procedures with the consent of higher authorities.

Evaluate materials to determine outdated or unused items to be discarded.

Develop information access aids such as indexes and annotated bibliographies, web pages, electronic pathfinders, and on-line tutorials.

Assemble and arrange display materials.

Compile lists of overdue materials, and notify borrowers that their materials are overdue.

Design information storage and retrieval systems, and develop procedures for collecting, organizing, interpreting, and classifying information.

Develop and index databases that provide information for library users.

The position is based in Hebbal, Mysore, for further details please refer
www.tracsvym.wordpress.com
Forward profiles to venugopal@svym.org.in call us at 9686666364.

Success of a Library: McAllen Public Library

I came across this article 'Where Wal-Mart Failed, a Library succeeds' about how a community made use of the available space and converted a vacant Wal-Mart's vast empty building into the McAllen Public Library, the largest single story library in USA in the Library-Soup blog. The new library space @ McAllen also won the 2012 Library Interior Design competition of the International Interior Design Association. The article first appeared in LA Times blog which made me think, can the same thing happen here in Mysore/ India. On the contrary here in Mysore the city authorities are thinking of converting the precious lung space around People's park, Nazarbad for constructing a Public Library. Hope the authorities think on the lines of McAllen and save the precious lung space of the Heritage city of Mysore.
Read more about 'Where Wal-Mart failed, a Library succeeds' here: http://sn.im/mcallen

Digital Repositories - India

According to Wikipedia "many academic libraries are actively involved in building institutional repositories of the institution's books, papers, theses, and other works which can be digitized or were 'born digital'. Many of these repositories are made available to the general public with few restrictions, in accordance with the goals of open access, in contrast to the publication of research in commercial journals, where the publishers often limit access rights. Institutional, truly free, and corporate repositories are sometimes referred to as digital libraries." In India also many libraries have started their digital repositories for the benefit of the community. Here an attempt has been made to compile the list of Digital Repositories - India which will be of use not only to the library community but also the academic community in general.
For a list of Digital Repositories - India visit: 
http://linkli.st/chetanhegdem/2ZvrE