The National Digital Library may bring out a series of audio books to be read out by celebrities and wellrecognized voices, says a report by Anubhuti Vishnoi, published in Economic Times. The HRD ministry is examining the idea of hosting special audio books on the National Digital Library portal following a proposal by Prasoon Joshi, advertising veteran and lyricist. Shri Joshi is learnt to have proposed creating a set of 50 audio books to start with, which would be read out by the likes of Amitabh Bachchan as well as trained professionals.
For original report visit: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politicsand-nation/digital-library-to-include-audio-booksread-out-by-celebrities/articleshow/51749928.cms UGC Relaxes Rules for Appointment of Faculty & Research Scholars
UGC (University Grants Commission) has amended its regulation on faculty recruitment to relax the minimum eligibility conditions for appointment of assistant professors in colleges and universities. UGC has also relaxed norms allowing female and differently abled research scholars eight years, instead of the current six years, to complete their PhD degrees and three years, instead of two, to complete MPhil degrees. Women candidates will also be provided maternity and child care leave of up to 240 days once in the duration of their M.Phil or Ph.D programmes. HRD Ministry Relaxes Appointment Rules The higher education regulator, on the advice of the HRD Ministry, exempted candidates registered for M.Phil/PhD programme before July 11, 2009, from clearing the National Eligibility Test (NET) or the State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) in order to become eligible for appointment as assistant professors in colleges and universities. The decision was taken at UGC’s meeting Monday and announced by Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani the same evening. This exemption, however, is only valid if the candidate meets certain conditions, including that of the PhD degree being awarded in regular mode, the research thesis being evaluated by at least two external examiners. Further, the candidate should have appeared for viva voce and published at least two papers based on the PhD thesis in research journals and, lastly, the candidate should also have made at least two presentations at conferences or seminars. Earlier, as per the 2009 regulations on qualification for appointment of teachers in colleges and universities, the UGC made it compulsory for all PhD holders to have qualified NET/ SLET to become assistant professors. Norms Changed for Differently Abled Students & Females The UGC has also relaxed norms allowing female and differently abled research scholars eight years, instead of the current six years, to complete their PhD degrees and three years, instead of two, to complete MPhil degrees. Women candidates will also be provided maternity and child care leave of up to 240 days once in the duration of their M.Phil or Ph.D programmes. Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/ugc-relaxes-rules-for-recruitment-of-faculty/ Supreme Court: In a case where the question regarding the disclosure of answer sheet and interview marks was before the Court for consideration, the bench of MY Eqbal and Arun Mishra, JJ held that the information of answer sheets and details of the interview marks can be and should be provided to the information seeker. It is not something which a public authority keeps it under a fiduciary capacity as this practice will ensure a fair play in this competitive environment, where candidate puts his time in preparing for the competitive exams.
More Information at : http://blog.scconline.com/post/2016/02/05/names-of-the-examiners-cannot-be-disclosed-to-the-information-seeker/ Those taking college courses in the sciences likely already have a great number of resources at their disposal courtesy of their library. But what about those late night study sessions when you need information — and need it fast — and don’t have time for a trip to the library? Or when you just want to learn new information without having to leave the house? That’s when these 100 reference sites will come in handy, letting you look up everything from the basics of the periodic table to the intricacies of human DNA.
Details can be accessed from http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2010/01/100-best-reference-sites-for-science-students/ The Union Minster of Human Resource Development Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani launched a portal for registration and allotment of International Standard Book Number (ISBN) at a function held in New Delhi on 07-April-2016.
following list of books recently been added to RSC library collection on Animal Science, Biochemistry, Chemistry and Physics, Chemistry disciplines. Central Universities should work towards becoming Temples of Knowledge and Learning, says President24/3/2016 The Third day of the Festival of Innovation in Rashtrapati Bhavan concluded with presentation of Visitor’s Awards for the year 2016 by President Pranab Mukherjee at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan yesterday (March 14, 2016).
The President presented Visitor’s Award for the ‘Best University’ to Tezpur University and Visitor’s Awards for ‘Research’ as well as ‘Innovation’ to Prof. Rakesh Bhatnagar and the Molecular Parasitology Group of JNU respectively in the presence of Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Vice Chancellors of various universities and other dignitaries. More Information | Click Here I don’t know about you, but I get intimidated by the most trivial things in life. Making idle chat with the barista behind the register. The awkward silence exchanged within a crowded elevator. Finding my own way through the library.
Whether we share the same fears or not, I know a lot of other students feel that third woe. Navigating Columbia and Barnard’s extensive library system is intimidating. To resolve some of the most pressing challenges in utilizing the libraries for academic and research purposes, I asked for some input from Jenna Freedman, an amazing Barnard librarian with a specialty in Women’s Studies. Now, I don’t have bibliophobia or anything like that, but I was at a loss when it came to the library. I wasn’t sure if there were certain books I could or could not touch, or if things were sorted by the Dewey Decimal system. (Fun fact: Melvin Dewey was Columbia’s chief librarian from 1883 to 1888.) I’ve been in New York for six months and I’ve gone to Butler once … during NSOP. “I understand the intimidation factor,” Ms. Freedman sympathizes, “Barnard and Columbia offer a sometimes dizzying array of research resources.”The resource you’re not using, but should beIt may be obvious, but many students too often ignore the availability of the library staff. For Barnard students, Ms. Freedman advises, “My number one tip is to connect with your Personal Librarian. We developed the Personal Librarian program specifically to support students through the research process. We want students to feel like they’ve got a partner in the library!” While Columbia does not have the exact equivalent to the Personal Librarian system, they still have a vast network oflibrarian subject specialists to assist with research questions.How to actually work with primary resourcesAlso known as primary sources, or maybe the shot to the heart of every research paper. I’ve heard some people complain that, when writing a paper, they always walk out of the library with a tower of books, most of which will be forgotten during the process of their research. It’s in getting started where we too often run into trouble. “Our subject [BC; CC] and course guides [BC] are meant to help students figure out where to start, and to highlight the top resources.” As for the overly-dramatic “shot to the heart” notion, Ms. Freedman advises, “Working with primary sources can often be difficult, but our archivists are incredibly helpful and inject joy into what can be a challenging experience. Also, keep in mind: navigating a challenging assignment is satisfying. That part might not be fun, but it’s how you learn.”Books beyond the bubbleOutside information. No, not “outside” as in random Google searches and Wikipedia pages with questionable edits. Literally outside our bubble of Morningside Heights. “The BorrowDirect network is awesome. It’s basically a shortcut to interlibrary loan, allowing students to access materials (usually books) from some of the United States’s most powerful academic libraries (the Ivies and other institutions including MIT) in four working days instead of two weeks. You have the books for up to six weeks and can renew them once – so nearly a whole semester.”Far from dread isleThe on-campus libraries, the university’s finicky Wi-Fi, the whole world: they’re not all out to get you. Considering this, it seems only natural that you should be able to find some enjoyment in the libraries. Ms. Freedman’s favorite section, for example, is Barnard’s new books collection. “There are about 1,000 circulating books in LeFrak so far, which represents all the titles we’ve acquired and processed since July 2015.” And a diverse community will yield a diverse selection of titles. “I love looking at the collection because in one glance you can get a sense of our weird and wonderful holdings. Nearly a ninth of it is women’s studies, there’s a whole shelf on dance, lots of art history books, and some of my personal favorites – about a shelf full of lesbian fiction, I borrowed two LGBTQ YA books just today.” Another unique component of the Barnard Library is the Zine collection, which Ms. Freedman also manages. “A zine — short for fanzine or magazine — is what you might call a ‘punk rock’ self-publication. Zines are written with a peer audience in mind, and many of them are informed by the same principles of intersectional feminism that infuse much of Barnard’s curriculum.” But don’t “self-publication” fool you. Zines are quick little pockets of power that you should really consider utilizing in your research. “They cover a huge range of subject areas, and the zines in our collection are written from points of view that are default queer, intentionally of color, and politically engaged in all sorts of ways.”Too many choicesWe have options and a lot of them. This is both a blessing and a curse: a curse in the beginning that becomes a blessing only as we discover the hidden nuggets and treasures. So considering this, there’s only one thing I can advise: Talk to your librarians. They’ll tell you all of this and more. E Link | Click Here Vestal, NY (WBNG Binghamton) In an age marked by technology, libraries have learned to change and adapt.
"Any strong 21st century library needs to have a strong connection to the community, needs to understand what the community needs are so they can position themselves in a place to-- to fill those needs,” said Steven Bachman, executive director of Four County Library System. “The modern 21st century library is more than a building." Modern libraries provide more than just books to the community. Many have tax forms available to the public, microfilms to look up articles and pictures from the past and also serve as a general meeting place. "We need to be a community meeting place, gathering place, that offers a whole lot of different things to them outside of just books,” said Vestal Public Library Director Carol Boyce. The shelves may be lined with books, but libraries also draw people in with technology. According to the American Library Association, 97.5 percent of the nation’s libraries offer free internet service with which people can do research or look for a job online. "Go over and look at the computers. They aren't teenagers, these are elderly people, but a lot of them can't afford a computer,” said Gordon Allen, vice president of the Vestal Public Library Board of Trustees. Although society is becoming increasingly paperless, libraries also make sure children are exposed to books from an early age. “It's just a completely different sensation than using a tablet or a computer. It's just a different level of learning,” said Kelsey Matoushek, the Vestal Public Library’s youth services librarian. A study of test scores in 42 nations indicate having more books in the home can have a profound impact on academic achievement-- books which can be checked out for free at the library. "Once they're into it as a child-- which is the future of the library-- they're not going to leave it,” Boyce said. “They'll keep coming back. They are the future." Despite recent funding decreases for the Vestal Public Library, Allen believes the future of the library is positive, "We think it's vibrant and the community center here for meeting, introducing people face to face, bring in speakers,” Allen said. “I think that we're surviving." A Pew Research study show 69 percent of Americans feel libraries improve the quality of life in communities. About half of Americans also believe libraries provide services people cannot receive elsewhere. More Details can be had from| Click Here Type, Edit and Format with Your Voice in Docs—No Keyboard Needed!We launched Voice typing in Docs to help you capture ideas, compose a letter, or even write the next great novel—all without touching your keyboard. Starting today, you can also edit and format your documents with your voice. To get started, select "Voice typing" in the "Tools" menu when you’re using Docs in Chrome. Say what comes to mind—then start editing and formatting with commands like “copy,” “insert table,” and “highlight.” Check out the full list of commands in our Help Center or simply say “Voice commands help” when you’re voice typing.
For More details | Click Here Following subject books have recently been added to RSTC Library Collection The following fiction books have been recently added to RSTC library collection The quarterly journal announced in its latest issue, which came out in January 2016, that it was retracting that article.
A peer-reviewed Indian journal on psychiatry has pulled out an article after it became known that some portions of the text were copied from a Wikipedia entry without attribution. The article titled “The Mystery of Reincarnation” was published in 2013 in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry, an open-access journal, by three authors from the Mysore Medical College and Research Institute. The quarterly journal announced in its latest issue, which came out in January 2016, that it was retracting that article. “The article was published in the special supplement… We have a rigorous process of peer review… But it seems that in this case… the same kind of rigour was not followed. We will be extra careful in future,” Dr T S Sathyanarayana Rao, editor of the journal, told The Indian Express. Rao, a professor at the Department of Psychiatry at the JSS Medical College in Mysore, claimed that the journal was among the top-ranked open access Indian scientific journals across all subjects. Dr Anil Kumar Nagaraj, one of the three authors of the article, said the article had given the reference of the original sources mentioned on the Wikipedia page, and not Wikipedia itself. “The references were to religious texts. We realised that we were not equipped to properly translate the religious texts. So we copied the version that appeared on Wikipedia and gave the original source. We thought that Wikipedia pages can be changed and information can become outdated, therefore it was safer to use the original sources,” Nagaraj said. Source | http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/scientific-journal-retracts-article-copied-from-wikipedia-entry/ “While it is too early to pass a judgment on the success of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, the initial trends are somewhat disappointing.” Picture shows a classroom in a school for underprivileged children in Bengaluru. Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash
Success of a new education policy would depend on how it socialises the private and embeds the basic right to a quality education. As the Right to Education (RTE) Act just completed five years of operation, it is time to take note of some facts. Kerala became the first State to achieve 100 per cent primary education, but in Uttar Pradesh, only 12 out of 75 districts have admitted students from disadvantaged groups to private schools. The Act mandates that schools reserve 25 per cent seats for these students. There are rumours that due to the pressure exerted by the private schools’ lobby, Karnataka may dilute the Act. A large number of Dalits, Adivasis and girls discontinue education because of discrimination in schools. And more than 60 per cent of urban primary schools are overcrowded, and about 50 per cent of Indian students cannot do basic mathematics or read a short story when they complete elementary education. Equitable quality education Universalising education involves issues of both distributive justice and quality. While the former concerns taking education to marginalised communities, the latter asks, ‘what counts as meaningful education?’ Considering that inadequate education affects the disadvantaged groups more severely, it is a possibility that these groups will end up with restricted opportunities and diminished outcomes given the market-driven economy we live in. The RTE, therefore, entails the right to equitable quality education. It is with this aim that India enacted the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. While it is too early to pass a judgment on the success of this Act, the initial trends are somewhat disappointing. According to the 2011 Census, the average literacy rates of people aged above 15 among Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are about 9 per cent and 17.4 per cent less than the national average, respectively. The female literacy rate is 19.5 per cent less than that of males. This difference increases to 23 per cent and 23.5 per cent among the SCs and STs, respectively, indicating the double discrimination faced by Dalit and Adivasi women. The dropout rates among SCs and STs are significantly higher than the national average and more girls discontinue schooling than boys. Of course, there is a wide variation across States and the gap is wider in rural areas as compared to urban, but these statistics suggest significant inequalities in the distribution of educational opportunities. The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2014 reveals that enrolment in private schools has increased from 18.7 per cent in 2006 to 30.8 per cent in 2014. But has this increase been accompanied by a proportionate inclusion of disadvantaged groups? The National University of Educational Planning and Administration’s 2011-12 report shows that only about 16 per cent of students from SCs and STs attend private schools and the average Indian household spends five times more money on each child annually if s/he is enrolled in a private school compared to a government school. It is reasonable to say that private schools are ordinarily more accessible to higher income groups. ASER reports suggest that private schools fare only marginally better in terms of imparting quality education compared to government schools. While the ASER methodology of quantifying learning has been disputed, these statistics suggest that our education system has fared poorly on both equity and quality parameters. The Constitution provides a flexible framework for a welfare state. Article 39 directs the state to frame policies that distribute the “ownership and control of the material resources of the community” such that it serves the “common good”, and “provide opportunities and facilities that enable children to develop in a healthy manner in conditions of freedom and dignity”. While Directive Principles are non-justiciable, Article 37 commands that they shall be “fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws”. Initially, universal elementary education was a Directive Principle under Article 45. The fact that it was made a fundamental right vide the 86th Amendment does not jettison the egalitarian perspective that placed it in the same scheme as other Directive Principles, particularly those under Article 39. The Kothari Commission recommended a common school system (CSS) to “bring the different social classes and groups together and thus promote the emergence of an egalitarian and integrated society”. It lamented that “instead of doing so, education itself is tending to increase social segregation and to perpetuate and widen class distinctions”. This results in the “anaemic and incomplete” education of both the rich and poor as it forecloses sharing of perspectives. The CSS was adopted by both the 1968 and 1986 national policies on education. While the interventions from ‘Operation Blackboard’ to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan brought universalisation and quality to the forefront, the CSS was somehow relegated to the background. The road ahead The RTE Act provides for minimum quality standards and mandates 25 per cent reservation for children belonging to weaker sections. This provision has caused much debate. The Ministry of Human Resource Development has clarified that “the larger objective [of this provision] is to provide a common place where children sit, eat and live together for at least eight years of their lives across caste, class and gender divides in order that it narrows down such divisions in our society”. Four caveats could be issued here. One, in conceiving ‘disadvantaged groups’, we must also include children of sex workers, transgendered groups, disabled persons and minorities. Two, equality also means the right to be treated with dignity and respect. Three, the government must not abdicate its responsibility to make its schools inclusive. If Dalit children sit separately and clean toilets and girls perform stereotypical gender roles, then we have only engrafted inequality and entrenched hierarchies. Four, education itself needs to celebrate the diverse ways in which knowledge is transferred and acquired. As the RTE Act emerges from its nascence and education statistics continue to disappoint on both quality and inclusion parameters, the government is deliberating the first education policy post-1991. Its success would depend on how it socialises the private and provides a vision for an equitable quality education. (Ajey Sangai is a Research Fellow with Education Initiative at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.) Source | http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-illusion-of-equity-in-the-classroom/article8189305.ece?css=print Project MUSE is pleased to announce the launch of RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences as a fully open access title on the MUSE platform. A peer-reviewed journal designed to promote cross-disciplinary collaborations on timely issues of interest to academics, policymakers, and the public at large, RSF offers thematic journal issues focusing on specific research questions or areas of interest. The initial issues now available on MUSE focus on severe deprivation in America, and a fiftieth-anniversary retrospective on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
While MUSE currently hosts selected open access articles for its participating journals, RSF is the first fully OA title on the platform. Its release will be followed by the launch of another fully OA title later this spring, Palapala: A Journal for Hawaiian Language and Literature / 'o Palapala: He Puke Pai no ka ʻŌlelo me ka Moʻolelo Hawaiʻi. Published by University of Hawaii Press, a MUSE content contributor for over 15 years, Palapala will feature scholarly, refereed articles on the full range of topics in the field of Hawaiian language, including new research, reviews of new work, critical review of older, standard works of reference, transcriptions and reprints of older materials, problems and guidelines in interpretation, comparative Polynesian literature, and more. Suzanne Nichols, Director of Publications at the Russell Sage Foundation, commented, "I am thrilled our new RSF journal will be in MUSE. The foundation wanted to ensure that anyone anywhere can read it with ease, and I’ve always liked the MUSE model." "The launch of RSF and soon, Palapala, signal an exciting new phase for MUSE, as a platform of choice for content providers wishing to make their scholarly publications widely available in an open access model," said Wendy Queen, Director, Project MUSE. "Our indexing and discoverability features, along with our large user base in the humanities and social sciences, make us an ideal home for both new OA titles and those considering conversion to this format." The availability of RSF and Palapala on MUSE is made possible through its new Hosted Journals program, which allows publishers to include journals on the platform through a fee-based arrangement outside of the MUSE Journal Collections. MUSE Hosted Journals are integrated into the complete listing of MUSE journals and benefit from all of the same features, functionality, discoverability, and services as titles in collections. Publishers may choose to offer Hosted Journals via subscription or as open access. MUSE's Publisher Relations office welcomes inquiries from peer-reviewed journals in the humanities and social sciences regarding the Hosted Journals program, in particular those titles interested in an open access model. More information may be found on our Journal Publishers web site. In addition to offering open access journals, MUSE is currently conducting research under a Mellon Foundation planning grant towards the development of MUSE Open, a vehicle for the distribution of open access monographs via the MUSE platform. MUSE Open hopes to leverage new OA monograph funding models in combination with MUSE’s discoverability and usability features to provide an enriched reader experience and wide dissemination of important scholarship. Project MUSE is a leading provider of digital humanities and social science content for the scholarly community. Since 1995 the MUSE journal collections have supported a wide array of research needs at academic, public, special, and school libraries worldwide. UPCC Books on Project MUSE, launched in January 2012, offer top quality book-length scholarship from distinguished university presses and scholarly societies, fully integrated with MUSE's scholarly journal content. For more information on Project MUSE, visit muse.jhu.edu. Access the journal at : http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/russell_sage_foundation_journal_of_the_social_sciences/ The MHRD vide their recent note F.No.16-23/2014-TEL dated 1st December, 2015 has merged following three consortia into E-Shodh Sindhu of INFLIBNET Centre (An Inter University Centre of UGC) Gandhinagar - 382007
1. UGC-INFONET Digital Library Consortium 2. INDEST-AICTE Consortium 3. NLIST Programme The INFLIBNET Centre has been assigned the responsibility for execution and operation of E-Shodh Sindhu. Currently INFLIBNET are in process of negotiating the rate of e-resources for member institutions. The UGC-INFONET digital Library Consortium is no more operational and Associate Membership Programme module for E-Shodh Sindhu has not yet evolved. As such, it is not possible for INFLIBNET to provide rates of e-resource for 2016.As soon as the Associate Membership module of E-Shodh Sindhu would evolve, the same will be communicated Meeting of the next library committee is scheduled to be held on 4th December 2015 (Friday) at Vice Chancellors Chamber at Tejaswini Hills Campus, Periye at 2.30 PM.
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