Automation project for GU library

By A Staff Reporter

PANAJI, Aug 29: The Goa University library has
undertaken a massive project of automating all aspects
of library services and management like circulation,
acquisition and serial management by the end of the
year 2001.

Under this project the library is developing an Open
Source Library Management Package for its internal use
which would also be distributed to other universities.

The library intends to offer OPAC querying,
inter-library loan management and E-mail based alert
services at the beginning of the second term of the
current academic year. The library is also currently
testing a dial-up network of libraries of affiliated
colleges.

Meanwhile, the library is actively seeking funds to
undertake the urgent task of preserving rare
manuscripts in its special collection. Once treated,
this collection would be digitised both on Compact
Disks (CDs) as well as on the worldwide web.

Several short term training programmes to upgrade the
skills of working librarians are also planned.
The library has so far completed the task of
digitising the catalogue of its holdings, bar coding
all books and is offering Online Public Access Catalog
(OPAC) services both on the campus wide intranet and
the internet.