DELNET – Developing Library Network
The Network that Evolved into a Major Network
H. K. Kaul
Director, 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 addressas the registered office.
To this I got the following response:
NISSAT did not issue a letter confirming that it agrees to be apermanent 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 theregistered 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 moneyto 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 inauguratedon February 21, 1994 by Dr. (Mrs.) Kapila Vatsyayan, AcademicDirector, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and a LifeTrustee of IIC. At that time we had 91,957 records in the UnionCatalogue 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 thefollowing precise recommendation:
‘Among the different city networks, it has been found that DELNEThas emerged as an operational library network in India with 60libraries in Delhi and other states as its members. It has beendeveloping on-line union catalogue of books and periodicals. It isrecommended that DELNET be supported to create Nationaldatabase and develop on OCLC pattern covering all subjects.’
National / International Initiatives
National Bibliographic Database
On the basis of this recommendation I approached the PlanningCommission and the Ministry of Culture in 1996 to support thecreation 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 DELNETsigned an MOU in 2001 to network libraries of the technical institutionsapproved 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, Demandsand Special Needs (1997)
Modernisation of Oriental Libraries. January 5, 2000.
National Round Table on Modernisation and Networking of Librariesin 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 weredelivered 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
