In any good institute of learning, one of the vital resources is a good library. When IIT Kanpur was started in 1959, great care was taken to see that the library would be one of the finest libraries of science and technology in India, and comparable to the best in the world. Initial help to build the library was received from a consortium of nine American universities including MIT, Caltech and Purdue. Purdue built the essential basic collection of books and back volumes of journals for this library. Over the years, continuous new addition of reading materials has been steady and uncompromising. Today, the Central Library of IIT Kanpur is a modern, computerised academic library, housed in an imposing, centrally air- conditioned, three-storeyed architectural masterpiece.

The Central Library at IIT Kanpur today has a total collection of around 2 lakh books. Apart from this, there is also a large collection of journals, reprints, technical reports, research theses, cartographic material, microfilms, etc. For the past ten years, on an average 4500 books and journal volumes have been added to the collection annually. The 1997-98 figures are: book-like materials, 2087; and bound volumes of journals, 2019. In recent years, the library has also acquired selected secondary resource material in CD-ROMs and other magnetic media.

Total Collection at a glance

Books

Cartographic Material

Machine-readable data files

Journals (back volumes)

Technical reports

199,901

500

100

176,675

129,000

IIT Kanpur theses

ISI standards

Journals subscribed (1998)

Reprints

Microfilms, etc.

20,000

30,000

960

10,000

Books are basically organised by the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC). A descriptive dictionary card catalogue, based on AACR2, level 2 cataloguing code of rules has been maintained for the traditional access, organised by authors, titles, Library of Congress Subject Heading (LCSH) and by the names of series. The library has also created an on-line catalogue which will shortly phase out the manual system. Ready reference material, theses, technical reports, standards, machine-readable data files, etc., not for home use, are separately maintained. A special section comprising textbooks recommended for current courses of studies in the Institute is also maintained. Each week, new arrivals of books are physically displayed for armchair browsers; and, for those with time at a premium, the bibliographic details are placed on the local area network for remote access.

Collection break-up by areas

Science 35%

Engineering & Technology 32%

Humanities & Social Sciences 28%

Other Areas 5%

Annual Funding (1998-99)

Books - Rs. 35 lakhs

Journals - Rs. 210 lakhs

Journals (NBHM) - Rs. 10 lakhs

The collection of back volumes of journals is divided into three sequences: (i) compact shelving area consisting of journals up to 1965, (ii) indexing and abstracting journals, and (iii) the bulk of the remaining back volumes, constituting the main collection, in a single alphabetical sequence. The library maintains a manual card catalogue as well as an on-line catalogue for information about the holdings of journals and the location of individual titles. The current year journals are displayed separately by broad discipline order, the sequence in each discipline being alphabetic again. A rotating Linedex in alphabetical order of titles has been maintained for easy location. Journals, single issues or bound volumes, are not issued for home use except for overnight reading by the faculty members and postgraduate students of the Institute. New arrivals are displayed separately, three times a week, and the bibliographic details of the same placed on the local area network for information to the remote users.

The Central Library at IIT Kanpur is among the first libraries in India to computerise its operations and services. With modest beginning at PC platforms in late eighties, the library now has its own library application programme, named the IIT-Kanpur Library Automation System (iit- KLAS). iit-KLAS is a fully integrated library automation package for computerizing the various functions of a library. iit-KLAS has been designed and developed at IIT Kanpur by a team of library and software professionals from the Central Library and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. The major goal has been to make the system simple to operate and yet offer comprehensive functionality. The understanding of human and organizational realities has been a central factor in its conception and ongoing development.

iit-KLAS as a Product

Having been developed in a library environment, IIT-KLAS is a good package for all shades and sizes of academic libraries. Following institutions have already acquired this integrated, user-friendly, and screen- oriented academic library application package:

1 IIT Madras

2. Roorkee University, Roorkee

3. Motilal Nehru Regional Engineering College, Allahabad

4. Regional Engineering College, Hamirpur

5. Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute, Pilani

6. TRDC, Delhi

This package is developed on Oracle 7.2.3 server and Forms 4.5 (there is also a Forms 3.0 version). It can be run both on character based terminals and Graphical User Interface (GUI) environment. Currently, the software is hosted on a Unix machine, DEC-Alpha-3000/600. With thirty terminals, a network CD-Server, twenty-five Pentiurn-based CD-ROM workstations, and many other new computing and peripheral technologies, the library has rightly been acclaimed as one of the front-line computerised libraries in the country. The iit-KLAS package has six modules: Lekhya (The Acquisition Module), Suchi (The Cataloguing Module), Avartan (The Circulation Module), Patrika (The Serials Control Module), TBMS (The Text Book Management System) and AIC (Academic Information Centre).

iit-KLAS has been in use at the IIT Kanpur Library for over six years. The library has a full- fledged Library Automation group which is responsible for not only the day-to-day maintenance but is also involved in continuous enhancements of iit-KLAS.

Using abstract-based CD-ROM databases, the library provides Current Awareness Services (CAS) to its subscribers. Through this service, users are provided a quick view of the contents page of what is being published in journals worldwide on any particular area of interest. The required information may be supplied in the form of monthly hard-copy bulletins, diskettes, electronic mail or in unformatted plain machine-printed paper,depending upon the choice of the user. The disciplines for which this service is currently available are Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Computer Engineering & Technology, Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Psychology.

Selective Dissemination of Information and Retrospective Search Services cover information based on a user's exclusive interest profile. SDI and RSS services are available against payment of the fixed tariff.

To complement the above computerised information services, the library provides for the delivery of the copies of available documents against specific requests by external users. In keeping with its tradition of maintaining close cooperation with other academic libraries and sharing resources with them on a mutual basis, the library also borrows books for its users from other libraries for short durations.

The library has been building the collection of some information resources in CD-ROM and other magnetic media. Among them are some of the most important abstract-based databases. With its well-equipped CD workstations, information seeking and researching has become a great deal more fun and easier than ever before. The CD- ROM databases are available for remote access over Local Area network.

Regional Library of Mathematics

The National Board of Higher Mathematics (NBHM) has accorded the status of the "Regional Library of Mathematics" for the northern zone to IIT Kanpur Library. In this capacity, the library has been given an annual grant of Rupees ten lakhs for subscription to mathematics journals and for the dissemination of mathematics information to the members of the Board by way of monthly CAS service entitled "The Current Mathematics Literature." Students and teachers of mathematics from any college/institute are allowed to use the library free of any charge.

The library has developed the necessary infrastructure, know-how and techniques (1) to impart advanced training in computer application, and (2) to convert any traditional library into a modern computerised system.

The library has so far conducted three short- term courses on computer application for library & information professionals from the Regional Engineering colleges and Polytechnic Institutes spread over the country. Sponsored by AICTE and Polytechnic Boards respectively, the course structures were designed to prepare the trainees to make a smooth transition from the traditional librarianship and information work to the modern computerised systems, such as the one IIT Kanpur Library has developed.

The Central Library at IIT Kanpur can no longer be viewed as a mere collection of books. It is a door to the growing world of information, a dynamic system that nurtures and enhances the pursuit of knowledge.