The document proposes establishing a consortium to strengthen libraries within the Indian National Agricultural Research System (NARS) by transitioning them to digital libraries. The consortium would work to digitize resources, create a union catalog, build capacity for librarians, and provide access to digital materials. Key activities would include digitization of collections, development of institutional repositories, training workshops, and creating a searchable online platform to improve access to resources. The goals are to modernize services, facilitate knowledge sharing, and ensure long-term preservation and access to information.

1. ROAD-MAP FOR A NEW CONSORTIUM TOWARDS STRENGTHENING NARS LIBRARIES C. DEVAKUMAR Principal Scientist Indian Agricultural Research Institute New Delhi-110012

4. No physical boundary . Round the clock availability . Multiple access . The same resources can be used simultaneously by a number of institutions and patrons Information retrieval . The user is able to use any search term (word, phrase, title, name, subject) to search the entire collection with user-friendly interfaces, giving clickable access to its resources. Preservation and conservation . Digitization is not a long-term preservation solution for physical collections, but does succeed in providing access copies for materials that would otherwise fall to degradation from repeated use. Digitized collections and born-digital objects pose many preservation and conservation concerns that analog materials do not.. Space . Unlike traditional libraries digital information requires very little physical space to contain them and media storage technologies are more affordable than ever before. Added value . The quality of images can be improved. Digitization can enhance legibility and remove visible flaws such as stains and discoloration Operational savings WHY DIGITAL LIBRARY?

6. CONSORTIUM PARTNERS: Selection Criteria Professional librarian with pro-active attitude and service Enough resources at hand Assured internet connectivity and infra-structure Regional Balance

7. Proposed Title STRENGTHENING OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT UNDER NARS

8. NARS LBRARY MISSION: TO TRANSFORM FROM A TRADITIONAL LIBRARY FORMAT TO A PORTAL ACCESSIBLE BY World Wide Web “ take an Indian Initiative to ICT to promote and facilitate the development of digitization of its resources and catalogues and provide life long accessibility of information through library resources through modernization and automation of its services.”

16. As we move into the electronic era of digital objects it is important to know that there are new barbarians at the gate and that we are moving into an era where much of what we know today, much of what is coded and written electronically, will be lost forever. We are, to my mind, living in the midst of digital Dark Ages; consequently, much as monks of times past, it falls to librarians and archivists to hold to the tradition which reveres history and the published heritage of our times. Terry Kuny, National Library of Canada (1998) LEST WE FORGET

17. THANKS