DELNET : The First Operational Library Network in India

Abstract

This article describes the objectives and establishment of DELNET. Various activities of DELNET, such as, promotions of database creation among member libraries, resource sharing and standardisation are discussed. lnformation on funding and the hardware/software infrastructure is also provided along with databases and services. In Delhi, libraries have been growing very fast in number and size during the last four decades. They cater to the specialised and general clientele and are of various types. These include institutional libraries, research libraries, government libraries, public libraries, departmental libraries besides the libraries of the universities, colfeges and schools. During the recent years, increase in information has led to increase in the demands of the users. It has been noticed that in this era of information explosion, libraries in lndia are generally ill-equipped to handle and retrieve information effectively. The financial resources and the space requirement for housing library collections are limited in almost all of the iibraries. The option left with the forward looking librarians has been to promote the sharing of resources by automation and networking. With this objective.

http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dbit.16.2.3252