E-RESOURCES FOR VETERINARIANS

Jadhav, U.S.

Introduction

Electronic-resources is an umbrella term which refers to provision of digital instruction courseware over the public Internet, private distance learning networks or in-house via an intranet. E-resources most often means an approach to facilitate and enhance access through the use of devices based on information and communications technologies (ICT) like personal computers, digital television, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant) and mobile phones. The electronic resources might include notes, PowerPoint presentations, video clips or Internet sites.

Online library resources aim at providing materials, information and services by different types of libraries to the end users. These libraries may be in different jurisdictions, but agree to serve one another on the same basis as each service to its own users through the use of ICT. With the rapid growth of information on veterinary science, there are frequent delays in providing service to the end users when traditional library systems are adopted. The cost of providing service is also rising, mainly because of manual methods and duplication of investments in library holdings. ICT enables the use of the Internet, email, discussion forums, and collaborative software to support students and veterinarians through the use of WANs (Wide Area Networks), and may also be considered where greater flexibility and just-in-time access is desired.

Role of Internet in Veterinary Education

Oral communication has been an integral part of people to people interactions in all ancient civilizations. With the advancement of science and technology, the process of communication has expanded over the years to cover print and other modes like computers and associated gadgets. Internet Technology has provided global access to information resources at negligible cost. Despite the shortcomings like quality, integrity, authenticity, volatility and non-refereed nature of information, the Internet is still a dominant medium for information transmission. Everything that is needed for veterinary students and animal practitioners viz, textbooks, catalogues, encyclopedias, magazines, newsletters, scholarly journals, databases, photos, videos is available on the Internet. The Internet has been viewed as a valuable source of information that can assist students and field veterinarians in the pursuance of knowledge, diagnosis, research, and increasing their capacity for field interaction. The Internet is seen to promote inquiry and creativity through interaction of various forms of knowledge such as text, multimedia, graphics, photos, music, video, sound, animation etc.

Online Resources

Libraries

British Library www.bl.uk/

BUBL bubl.ac.uk/

Carrie vlib.iue.it/carrie/

Digital Library of India www.new.dli.ernet.in/

DMOZ www.dmoz.org/

European Commission Libraries Catalogue ec.europa.eu/eclas/F

European Library search.theeuropeanlibrary.org/portal/en/index.html

Harvard Libraries lib.harvard.edu/

Internet Public Library www.ipl.org/

Libdex www.libdex.com/

Librarians’ Internet Index www.lii.org

LibrarySpot www.libraryspot.com/

Libweb lists.webjunction.org/libweb/

Questia www.questia.com/

University of Texas Libraries www.lib.utexas.edu/

US Library of Congress www.loc.gov/

USDA National Agricultural Library www.nal.usda.gov/

Virtual Livestock Library www.ansi.okstate.edu/library/

WWW Virtual Library vlib.org/

e-books

Internet Public Library www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/hum60.60.00/

National Academy Press www.nap.edu/

Project Gutenberg www.gutenberg.org/

The On-Line Books Page digital.library.upenn.edu/books/

University of California e-Press content.cdlib.org/search?style=eschol&smode=advanced

University of Texas online library www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Etext.html

Wiretap Electronic Text Archive wiretap.area.com/Gopher/Library/Classic/

Dictionaries

Cambridge International Dictionaries dictionary.cambridge.org/

Dictionary of Phrase and Fable www.bibliomania.com/Reference/PhraseAndFable/

Roget’s Thesaurus humanities.uchicago.edu/forms_unrest/ROGET.html

Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition

www.answers.com/library/Veterinary%20Dictionary-cid-2216325

The Free Dictionary www.thefreedictionary.com/

Wordsmyth www.wordsmyth.net/

Encyclopaedias

Encyclopaedia Brittanica www.britannica.com/

Enyclopaedia.com www.encyclopedia.com/

Merck Veterinary Manual www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp

Merriam-Webster’s www.merriam-webster.com/

Microsoft Encarta encarta.msn.com/

Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

General Reference

Bartleby.com www.bartleby.com/reference/

Biographical Dictionary www.s9.com/biography/

Biography.com www.biography.com/

CIA – The World Factbook www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

Google Book Search books.google.com/

Quotations www.quoteland.com/

UN Infonation www.cyberschoolbus.un.org/infonation/index.asp

Writing Skills – Essays, Reports & Dissertations

www.staffs.ac.uk/uniservices/infoservices/studyskills/writing/index.php

Information Resources Sharing and Networking

The National Policy on Library System (1988) had recommended use of Information Technology at the National level. Under the Agricultural Research Information System (ARIS), the Indian Council of Agricultural research (ICAR) has given major thrust to Information System Development (ISD), networking and creating infrastructure for interconnectivity with all national, international animal/veterinary/fisheries/agricultural research institutes and central/deemed/state agricultural universities through e-mail and Internet. Further, expansion of Local Area Network (LAN) has also been done at various research institutes, deemed and state-agricultural universities. ICAR provides updated information on these developments through its quarterly newsletter, ARIS NEWS. To strengthen the IT revolution, ICAR scientists and technicians are busy in the development of various national databases, automated libraries, and electronic publications. The system which has been developed is Consortium for e-Resources in Agriculture (CeRA).

Consortium for e-Resources in Agriculture.

Animal husbandry is the backbone of agricultural growth in the country, and its development needs timely dissemination of knowledge generated and updated across the globe from time to time. Hitherto, R & D institutions have been procuring print versions of journals and literature. With the advent of internet facilities and advancement of web technology, almost all reputed international journals are available on-line and can easily be accessed by researchers over the network. Since ICAR is having network connectivity across its institutes and state agricultural universities, select journals could be made available over the network for the use of scientific community. Keeping this broad objective in mind, the NAIP has established the Consortium for e-Resources in Agriculture (CeRA) at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi.

Objectives of CeRA

· To develop the existing R&D information resource base of ICAR institutes, universities etc., comparable to that existing in world's leading institutions/organizations.

· To subscribe to e-journals and create an e-access culture among scientists/teachers in ICAR institutes/agricultural universities.

· To develop a Science Citation Index (SCI) facility at IARI for evaluation of scientific publications.

· To assess impact of CeRA on the level of research publications measured through SCI.

Proposed Models

The above developments have made it imperative to share library resources and to go in for online resources through a network of veterinary information systems in India. This may be possible only with the application of modern Information Technology in the Veterinary College libraries of India. The need of networking of veterinary information systems for India has been well recognized, but the technology options available till now were limited. Considering the above factors, the need of the hour is to establish an independent network in the veterinary sector. The proposed network may be called VETNET (Network of Veterinary Sciences) and should cover all Veterinary Institutes, University Libraries, Veterinary College Libraries, and other ICAR Research Institute Libraries in India. The goal of forming a Network/consortium is that libraries can accomplish more by working together than they can individually.

Excerpt from 'Information Technology in Veterinary Science' (2009), New India Publishing Agency, New Delhi. ISBN 978-81-908512-4-4. More details here.