Library & Information System nbsp; - Blog

The National Academic Depository (NAD)

5/7/2017

The National Academic Depository is for for authenticating all the certificates issued by institutions and for authenticating them as per the need of the users. It is an initiative of Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India (MHRD) to facilitate digital itssuance, storage, access and verification of Academic Awards issued by Academic Institutions. NAD is a Unique, Innovative and Progressive initiative under “Digital India” theme towards achieving Digital enablement of the Education Records.

NAD aspires to make the vision of Digital Academic Certificates for every Indian a reality. This touches the lives of Indian youth and empowers them with Digital, Online, Trusted, Verifiable Certificates which are accessible in a secure manner at all times. NAD promises to do away with difficulties / inefficiencies of collecting, maintaining, and presenting physical paper certificates.

For more details: https://www.nad.ndml.in/

Introducing Canary Haz: discovering article PDFs with one click

7/6/2017

Access to PDFs of research papers is too often overly complicated and restricted. Canary Haz, a free browser plugin that helps researchers access the PDFs they need with just one click, has been released in response to this frustration. Peter Vincent, one of the co-founders,explains a little more about how Canary Haz works, while also
encouraging feedback from the wider research community.
Frustrated by unnecessary barriers between researchers and journal papers, two colleagues from Imperial College London and I set out on a mission to solve the academic PDF “access problem”. Last month we released Canary Haz, a free browser plugin that helps researchers access the PDFs they need with just one click!

Full Article: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2017/06/06/introducing-canary-haz-discovering-article-pdfs-with-one-click/

SWAYAM – the indigenous MOOCs portal

8/3/2017

SWAYAM is a programme initiated by Government of India and designed to achieve the three cardinal principles of Education Policy viz., access, equity and quality. The objective of this effort is to take the best teaching learning resources to all, including the most disadvantaged. SWAYAM seeks to bridge the digital divide for students who have hitherto remained untouched by the digital revolution and have not been able to join the mainstream of the knowledge economy.

More details can be had from: https://swayam.gov.in/

The South Asia Archive is now available to Indian learners through the National Digital Library of India

1/2/2017

Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group is pleased to announce that the innovative digital resource, the South Asia Archive<http://www.southasiaarchive.com/>, is now available to all the learners of South Asian Studies through the National Digital Library of India<https://ndl.iitkgo.ac.in> in the country.

National Digital Library (NDL) project was launched by NMEICT, MHRD, Govt. of India to develop a portal that provides a single window access to learners for e-contents, address the issue of collaborative learning and facilitate self-paced personalized learning. It is hosted and spearheaded by IIT, Kharagpur.

The cutting-edge digital resource, developed by Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group in association with the South Asia Research Foundation, answers the demand from researchers for new online research, learning and teaching resources relating to South Asia. Unrivalled in breadth and depth, the electronic resource offers over 5 million pages of interdisciplinary content across a wide variety of publication types. Comprising significant journal runs, rare books, film ephemera, census reports, travelogues and other documentation from colonial and early post-colonial India, the resource provides instant access to culturally and historically significant literary material from across the Indian Subcontinent covering the mid-18th to the mid-20th century.

The digital resource also brings together a wealth of primary & secondary content in both English & vernacular languages supported by powerful full-text search & keyword highlighting, available 24X7 on your desktop.
"These documents are truly interdisciplinary, reflecting the varied range of knowledge production in colonial and early post-colonial India in fields including culture and society, industry and economy, science, technology and medicine, urban planning and administration and politics and law," says the archive's editor Boria Majumdar. Co-editor Dr Sharmistha Gooptu adds, "The Archive is going to be useful to people working in any field of South Asian history".

Dr David Green, Publishing Director, Taylor & Francis comments: "The South Asia Archive combines key content, selected for its rarity and historic value, with the first-rate functionality of a state-of-the-art platform from Routledge. I am delighted that this major resource is now available to scholars throughout India via the National Digital Library."

To find out more about the South Asia Archive, visit the website.<http://www.southasiaarchive.com/unauthenticated>

HRD ministry plans national entrance test for B.Ed

19/1/2017

Aiming to improve the quality of teaching in government schools, the HRD Ministry is working on an action plan which proposes to introduce a national-level entrance test for the B.Ed course, certification of B.Ed colleges, exit test for all B.Ed graduates and a compulsory induction programme for government school teachers.

According to ministry sources, the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has been tasked to work on the modalities for conducting the entrance and exit tests and also draft the module for the compulsory induction programme.

“School education will not improve unless the teachers are good. We are looking at a multi-pronged approach to achieve this. For starters, we want better quality of candidates entering the B.Ed programme. B.Ed cannot be the last resort for youngsters who do not qualify for other disciplines. An entrance test will ensure that those serious about teaching take up this course,” said an official, who did not wish to be identified.

The official added: “To ensure the country is producing quality teachers, all B.Ed colleges should be compulsorily certified. There should be an exit test for all graduates of such colleges to ensure that they achieved the desired learning outcomes. It’s also important that fresh recruits in government schools attend an orientation programme to understand what is expected of them. These teachers should be thoroughly evaluated.”

The ministry is also working on a pilot project to ensure that teachers attend school regularly. For this, the ministry has proposed to give one computer tablet to each government school through which teachers can mark their attendance. The HRD Ministry estimates that each tablet will cost about Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000. The pilot, which could cost about Rs 7 crore to Rs 10 crore, will be implemented in government schools in Chhattisgarh.

“We want to freeze the specifications of the computer tablet by March and place the order. We have discussed the project with the World Bank and they are on board to fund the pilot. We will also use some of the SSA funds for this,” the official said.

The computer tablet provided to government schools will not only be used to register attendance of teachers, but also enter data such as the number of students who have eaten mid-day meal, their attendance and Aadhaar details.

“We will also load educational content on these tablets which will aid in classroom learning,” the official said.

For more details: http://indianexpress.com/article/education/hrd-ministry-plans-national-entrance-test-for-b-ed-4479235/

Claiming LTA is set to get complex from this year

18/1/2017

The salaried class are likely to come under more scrutiny from employers this year. And, all perks like LTA, house rent allowance and interest paid on home loans will come under this heightened scrutiny. The government has made employers responsible for verifying whether the claims filed are according to the law. Earlier, companies went only by self-declaration of employees.

The regulations were changed to counter the Supreme Court’s ruling that employers are under no statutory obligation to collect bills and details to prove the employees have utilised the amounts obtained against claims on travel and related expenses, according to experts. They say the proofs required to claim a deduction could be more stringent now. Employees will also need to submit claims using a prescribed form (12BB).

While most other deductions are straightforward and well-defined, LTA regulations can get complex, depending on how you reached the destination and with whom you travelled.

· Single claim for multiple flights

· Only for public transport

· Fellow travellers matter

· Carry over, if not claimed

Source | Business Standard | 16 January 2017 :
Link: http://www.business-standard.com/article/pf/take-note-claiming-lta-is-set-to-get-complex-from-this-year-117011600024_1.html

Seven university application killers

26/12/2016

With the deadline for submitting foreign university applications coming up, experts list the mistakes that could jeopardise your vilayati college dream

Source | Mumbai Mirror | 20 December 2016

seven_university_application__killers.jpg
File Size:	519 kb
File Type:	jpg

‘Universities should be free of bureaucratic control’ - chairman Ved Prakash said

5/12/2016

University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman Ved Prakash on Thursday said universities in the country should be freed from bureaucratic clutches and other kinds of external control if they are to foster innovation.

Delivering a lecture after inaugurating some facilities at the University of Mysore, Prof. Prakash said there is no motivation or incentives for innovation in the field of higher education because of bureaucratic control. He said higher education in India is in a deep financial crisis and though the funding has increased over the years in absolute amounts, the proportion of funding to the overall plan size is on the decline.

The UGC chairman called for financial reforms to cope with the situation and said that though education cess is in place, it is meant only for promoting elementary education.

Prof. Prakash said modern higher education in India is hardly 125 years old, compared to educational institutions abroad that have evolved over up to 900 years. “Yet, there is no reason for us to be apologetic about the state of higher education as in a short span India has produced outstanding scientists and professionals,” he said.

However, he said the gross enrolment ratio and regional disparities were worrying factors. “While the gross enrolment ratio is as high as 42 per cent in some parts of the country, it is 6 per cent or so in some regions. The disparities are huge, with enrolment at 33 per 1,00,000 population in some areas, and 7.5 per 1,00,000 in others,” he said.

He said there are issues related to transition rate from primary to secondary and post-secondary stages. Some students making the transition are found to lack the competencies to complete higher level courses. He also said that there is a strong disconnect between academia and the industry and that there is a lack of leadership to haul higher education out of the crisis.

Earlier, Prof. Prakash inaugurated the renovated UGS-HRDC building at the Manasagangotri campus. K.S. Rangappa, Vice-Chancellor of the university, Registrar R. Rajanna, and other staff members and students were present.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/%E2%80%98Universities-should-be-free-of-bureaucratic-control%E2%80%99/article16737879.ece

Kindle to support e-books in five Indian languages

5/12/2016

Amazon’s e-book reader, Kindle will now support content in five Indian languages, including Hindi, Gujarati and Malayalam, a move that will help the US-based firm tap into the niche but growing ‘digital regional content’ market in India. “We are adding thousands of digital books in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Gujarati and Malayalam, including the largest digital selection of best sellers, hundreds of exclusive titles and free classics to the Kindle Book Store,” Amazon Kindle Director (Content) Sanjeev Jha told PTI. Readers can access these books on Kindle eReaders as well as the free Kindle apps for Android and iOS, he added.“Subscribers of Kindle Unlimited will also have access to the Indian language content. The new language selection is in addition to over three million books that are already available on the Kindle Book Store,” he said.
Kindle already supports languages such as Chinese, German, French and Japanese among others, apart from English. While Amazon does not share country specific growth numbers, Mr. Jha said India is among its fastest growing markets globally for Kindle.
Amazon will make available bestseller titles like Ishq Mein Shahar Hona by Ravish Kumar (Hindi), Rajaraja Chozhan by Sa Na Kannan (Tamil), Mrutyunjay by Shivaji Sawant (Marathi), Ek Bija Ne Gamta Rahiye by Kaajal Oza Vaidya (Gujarati) and Aarachar by K R Meera (Malayalam).
The exclusive titles include Banaras Talkies by Satya Vyas, Ki.Mu.Ki.Pi by Madhan and, Draupadi by Kaajal Oza Vaidya and titles like Mayapuri by Shivani will now be available in digital format for the first time.
“We are bringing features like font size adjustment, ability to add notes and highlights, and automatic save and sync of your furthest page read across all your devices,” he said.
According to industry reports, the print book market in India is estimated to be worth about USD 4 billion. India ranks third in English language publishing, after the US and the UK.
India, which is one of the fastest growing smartphone markets globally, also has a significant number of people reading e-books on their phones.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/gadgets/Kindle-to-support-e-books-in-five-Indian-languages/article16735619.ece

New Arrivals @ RSTC Library

30/11/2016

The Following subject books have been recently added to RSTC Library

Three Day Book Exhibition organized by University Library, CUK

23/11/2016

UGC circular to universities: Make National Cadet Corps (NCC) training course as an elective subject.

16/11/2016

The Ministry of Human Resource Development, as part of discussion in the JSR&D Conference held on 30'n July,2015 has decided to implement NCC as an elective subject to be taken up by all universities

More detailed circular visit: www.ugc.ac.in/pdfnews/3639109_UGC-letter-reg-NCC.pdf

UGC tells varsities to start PhD programmes for AYUSH disciplines

1/11/2016

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked universities to start PhD programmes under Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) disciplines. In a circular to all Central Universities UGC secretary Jaspal S Sandhu has said the Central Councils set up for research in these disciplines will sponsor 200 students for pursuing PhDs every year. He also said the government has asked the Commission to issue an advisory in this regard. “AYUSH is aimed at developing Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) systems for healthcare of the people imbibing scientific interventions.As per the letter, each of these five disciplines conduct clinical and basic research studies in collaboration with reputed scientific institutes:
Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy
Central Council for Research in Yoga & Naturopathy
Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine
Central Council for Research in Siddha

Trial Access to Selected e-Resources

31/10/2016

Dear Sir/Madam
As part of International Open Access Week, trail access to the following publications has been activated to CUK for a short period.

1. The Electrochemical Society (http://jes.ecsdl.org/)
2. GeoScienceWorld (http://geoscienceworld.org/)
3. Future Science (http://www.future-science.com)

List of journals accessible in fulltext is attached herewith. Users are requested to avail this rare opportunity to download full text articles. Access is activated to CUK IP address so that the download can be performed within the campus only

trial_access_31102016.pdf
File Size:	300 kb
File Type:	pdf

21st century libraries can help fight poverty: Hamid Ansari

27/10/2016

Libraries of the 21st century can help fight poverty and narrow the gap between rich and poor, said Vice President Hamid Ansari while inaugurating the three-day 19th National Convention on Knowledge, Library and Information Networking (NACLIN) at Tezpur University on Wednesday.

“For the first time in history, perhaps, the poor have an opportunity to enhance their wealth through the creation and use of knowledge. And libraries can play a central role in this notable movement,” said Ansari at the convention organised jointly by DELNET-Developing Library Network, New Delhi and Tezpur University.

“DELNET is a major resource sharing library network connecting more than 5,600 libraries in India and eight other countries. NACLIN 2016 will discuss a large number of latest issues under the theme Smart Libraries and Inspired Librarians: Managing New Technologies, Digital Content and Service,” he said.

Read the complete news at : http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/21st-century-libraries-can-help-fight-poverty-hamid-ansari-3104062/

What UGC’s new rules mean for research scholars

27/10/2016

As per the UGC regulations 2016 for MPhil and PhD degrees, the maximum duration to complete an MPhil course is two years and for PhD it is six years. Women candidates and persons with disability (more than 40% disability) can be allowed a relaxation of one year for MPhil and two years for PhD in the maximum duration. Women will also be eligible for maternity leave/child care leave once in the entire duration of MPhil/PhD for up to 240 days.
All universities and institutions, including deemed to be universities, will admit MPhil/PhD students through an entrance test. They have been authorised to outline separate terms and conditions for PhD entrance test for students who qualify UGC-National Eligibility Test (including Junior Research Fellow)/UGC-Council of Scientific and Industrial Research NET (including JRF)/State Level Eligibility Test/Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering/teacher fellowship holders or those who have passed MPhil programme. A similar approach can be adopted in case of entrance test for MPhil programme.

The guidelines also state that there will be a Research Advisory Committee, or an equivalent body, for each MPhil and PhD scholar. The research supervisor of the scholar will be the convener of this committee. This committee will review the research proposal and finalise the topic of research. It will also guide the research scholar to develop the study design and methodology of research and identify the course(s) that he/she intends to do. Besides, it will periodically review and assist in the progress of the research work of the scholar. The scholar will have to appear before the committee once in six months to make a presentation of the progress of his/her work for evaluation and further guidance.

Access more details at:http://www.hindustantimes.com/education/what-ugc-s-new-rules-mean-for-research-scholars/story-1mj3sVEpj5ZvlScdSJPviI.html

Libraries continue to play a central role in providing open and free access to information and ideas: Mohammad Hamid Ansari

27/10/2016

Vice President M. Hamid Ansari on Wednesday said that libraries continue to play a central role in providing open and free access to information and ideas.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the 19th National Convention on Knowledge, Library and Information Networking - NACLIN 2016,Tezpur Assam, Ansari said the explosion of information now being produced in digital form has dramatically changed expectations about the production as well as the use of knowledge.

He further said that social networks and social media have become more important in people's learning strategies. Changing paradigms of knowledge production, expanding sources and modes of dissemination, faster and broader accessibility to a growing range of information - also have the ring of opportunity, he pointed out. Libraries must transform and avail these opportunities to remain vital forces of knowledge dissemination in the years ahead, he added.
For more details visit: http://www.newkerala.com/news/2016/fullnews-135467.html

New Arrivals@RSTC Library_ 22102016

22/10/2016

recent_additions__rstc_library_22102016.pdf
File Size:	25 kb
File Type:	pdf

Paying to Play: Social Media in Advancement 2016

20/10/2016

A white paper with insight and recommendations from the results of the annual survey on social media strategy in educational advancement

paytoplay-socialmedia-advancement-2016.pdf
File Size:	1704 kb
File Type:	pdf

Train your brain

27/9/2016

With age, a lot of people complain of confusion, inability to understand simple tasks and difficulty while performing mental tasks. At times, they may even suffer from sudden memory loss.

While there are no distinctive and visible signs of slowing down or memory loss, training the brain is important so that it can withstand the neurological damage suffered due to aging, head injury or diseases which affect brain function.

Researchers state that following a brain-healthy lifestyle with brain exercises can help to increase the brain’s cognitive reserve. For this, people need to follow a diet low in fat and cholesterol, but high in antioxidants. Regular physical exercise will also help boost the brain function. Exercises like yoga, aerobics, weight training, cycling, jogging and running for 45 minutes daily are found to release neurochemicals in the brain, which help to regenerate neurons in the body.

Dr Alok Ranjan, consultant neurosurgeon at Apollo Hospitals explains, “The release of neuro chemicals in the brain has a positive effect on mood and cognitive behaviour of a person. Various studies have shown that people who exercise during their work days are 23 per cent more productive than those who didn’t. Brain scans of people exercising for at least an hour, three times a week have shown significant increase in size and blood flow to the memory and learning centre. Hence, people need to train their brains and keep themselves mentally fit.”

A sedentary lifestyle is one of the reasons for early onset of dementia. Obesity, high stress levels, brain diseases or viral diseases affecting the brain are some of the other causes. When the brain is passive, it has a tendency to atropy. Sedentary and relatively passive activities such as sitting in front of the TV for hours a day are found to be detrimental to brain health over a period of time.

Dr G.V. Subbaiah Chowdhary, consultant neurophysician of Star Hospitals explains, “Brain training involves real world activities to strengthen brain function. For these exercises to succeed, the patient’s will is very important. The best person to carry out these exercises is their caregiver, who knows what will suit them. Once these are identified, people can opt for various challenges like Sudoko, learning a new language, learning music, memorising lyrics of a song, learning new words and many other simple but effective exercises that stimulate the brain.”

Brain exercises

Experts recommend some basic exercises to people who suffer from cognitive behaviour problems like memory loss, speech problems, dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Test your recall. Make a list — of grocery items, things to do or anything else that comes to mind — and memorise it. An hour later, see how many items you can recall. Make items on the list as challenging as possible for the greatest mental stimulation.

Create word pictures. Visualise the spelling of a word in your head and try and see if a similar word can be recalled.

Challenge your taste buds. When eating, try to identify individual ingredients in your meal, including subtle herbs and spices.

Learn to play a musical instrument or join a choir. Studies show that learning something new and complex over a longer period of time is ideal for the aging mind.
Do math in your head. Figure out problems without the aid of pencil, paper or computer.

Learn a foreign language. The listening and hearing involved, stimulates the brain.

Draw a map from memory. After returning home from visiting a new place, try to draw a map of the area; repeat this exercise each time you visit a new location
Take a cooking class. Learn how to cook a new cuisine. Cooking uses a number of senses like smell, touch, sight and taste which involve all different parts of the brain.

Refine your hand-eye abilities. Take up a new hobby that involves fine-motor skills, such as knitting, drawing, painting, assembling a puzzle, etc.

Learn a new sport. Start doing new exercises like such as yoga, aerobics, golf or tennis.

Source | http://www.asianage.com/health-fitness/train-your-brain-573

BLOG ARCHIVES

January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015

ABOUT US

Library and Information System Blog (LIS Blog) of CUK is an interactive and dynamic online platform to keep students, staff and faculties of CUK community abreast of the latest developments, activities and services of the Library along with other general useful information.

BLOG CATEGORIES