Abstract

Manik Mandal, Dr. K. C. Panda
National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, India

Global Access to Science Information: The Changing Dynamics of Access and Practices in India

Provides an insight into the changing dynamics of access to Science Information currently practiced in India. Vividly describes the changing dynamics of publishing technology, Open Access journals, Open Access Initiatives and their impacts. All major publishers are currently making available the contents of their respective publications electronically, although print format still predominant. Information professionals in all quarters of the world are desperately trying to provide users with e-access to the global knowledgebase and tools to help them gain maximum benefit out of e-access. Many consortiums have been established at different levels to facilitate access to different valuable e-resources amongst member institutions at highly discounted rates of subscriptions. Discusses about the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), which aim to be comprehensive and covers all Open Access Scientific and Scholarly Journals and acts as a quality control system to guarantee the contents of such scholarly journals. It also studies the Open Course Ware Consortium, namely, MIT’s Open Course Ware and the Govt. initiative taken in India, the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) launched recently. The study also reveals that the open access articles have greater impact than the non-open access publications. This study highlights the Open Access Initiatives in India along with the role of various Science Consortiums in India to facilitate global access to Science information. It also highlights the role of Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore (IASB) in providing its journals a greater visibility internationally and promotes the global dissemination of scientific works done and published in India. It cites the efforts of the various consortiums in India, like INDEST, IISc and other institutions for open access movements, e-print archives and towards dissemination of scientific information which are praiseworthy and need of the hour.