Transition and Reformation of Indian Agricultural Libraries in the Digital and Collaborative Era: Challenges, Opportunities, and Sustainability

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe article discusses how the Indian agricultural libraries have transformed through various innovative projects in the recent past. Libraries in the National Agricultural Research and Education network have connected and collaborated to deliver information resources as per the changing needs of the academic community. The author describes the initiatives made through projects for upgrading libraries and moving them to virtual environment and digital platforms like IDEAL and central digital repositories like Krishikosh. Collaborative projects like CeRA–consortiums and union catalogue–AgriCat developed on Koha have made a breakthrough in transformation. Sustainable development of digital platforms is important; how the various platforms have been sustained and continued is interesting. Some of the challenges and constraints in institutional repositories, open access, and digital accessibility of e-resources for new, developing universities and bridging the digital divide are also addressed. Through describing these transformations, the author concludes that attention of academicians and librarians is required to facilitate and popularize use of e-resources and bring greater dependency on e-text in light of the changing technological scenario.