No.8

e-library of the
TCRC : Tribal Culture Research Centre,
Koraput-764020

I. E-LIBRARY

The world of Libraries and Information Centres has been witnessing a sea change during the past few decades due to the information explosion and the emergence of new technologies and other scientific gadgets. A stage has reached when the traditional type of library is fast becoming obsolete and meaningless as it may be incapable of coping with the mass of knowledge in the shape of books and non-book materials. The Library -cum- Information Centres are to acquire both the book including two packing books and non-book materials, process them and to disseminate them to the right person, in the right form and at the right time - in other words, quick access to information and dissemination thereof. Librarians are now Information Officers or Documentation specialists. Sabara Srikhetra is committed to equip the populace of Koraput region (four districts) to achieve their better social well-being and economic condition. Hence this Gyan Mandir' (Knowledge Centre) is conceived by the TCRC, an unit of Sri Jagannath Mandir, Sabara Srikhetra, Koraput (Orissa), India.

II. THE OBJECTIVES

1. (a) Since the eighties a slogan which gained currency is that - ‘‘yesterday's backward nations were those which missed out on the Industrial Revolution and tomorrow's backward nations would be those which will miss out on the Information Revolution". The slogan of the eighties is more potent and better realised and understood today.

(b) In the meantime, Information Technology (IT) has made unbelievable progress in its reach, encompassing variety, utility and penetration.

(c) But this potential guidance has not been made available to individuals or groups in equal measure. There is wide disparity in the information communication capabilities between the developed and developing areas.

(d) The Government have committed to reach the remotely stationed people with ideas, schemes etc. and for that; have created certain institutions/ infrastructure in the State and also at the district levels. But the hard fact remains that the desired result is not forthcoming because of certain lacunac perheps inherent in the Government system.

(e) TCRC, Koraput aims at a revolutionary change to serve the people of the backward Scheduled Areas, providing upto date information in various spheres of activity utilising the latest technology. In fact, it proposes to supplement the efforts of the Government in the field of information dissemination, in a systematic manner.

III. THE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE
These can broadly be classified as shown hue under :

(a) Basic minimum needs : Housing, drinking water, health, education.

(b) Minimum economic needs : Acquisition of Vocational Skills, Gainful Employment in Agriculture, Business, Industry and service sectors etc and Human Resource Development.

(c) infrastructural needs : Educational institutions, roads, transport, water resources, communication, markets, electricity, roads, transport etc.

(d) social needs : Adequate opportunity to all social groups including women to spread gender equality and strengthen the socio-economic order where the disparities of income and wealth remain subdued and to ensure the weakest sections of population an assured minimum quality of dignified life.

(e) environmental needs : Conservation of the environment and ecosystem to assure the future generation an opportunity of good quality of life, creativity, productivity and ingenuity.

(f) the needs of self actualisation and culture : Recreation and entertainment, with specific cultural background.

IV. DISSEMINATION OF DATA

The TCRC will address to the following basic points relating to Korpaut region with the collaboration of its Sister Institutions i.e. COATS and the Tribal Museum which are vital to make the data culture-friendly.

(a) The data collected will be formatted in the following manner.

i. Profile of resources inventory of each village including population containing sex, literacy, land, water, livestock, irrigation facilities, farming pattern, occupation, crafts, folk arts, folk dances, natural resources, institutions, mines, minerals, forests etc and environment.

ii. Pattern of traditional agriculture technology followed, cropping systems, landuse pattern, marketing, agriculture, forest produces, handicrafts and cottage industries etc. for finding out scope for improvement.

iii. Identify the various kinds of development programmes implemented in the villages since independence and continuing programmes/schemes.

iv. Prepare profiles of the beneficiaries of the development programmes.

v. Store information on health, education, human resource development/ employment, financial status, legal problems and other related topics of community interest.

vi. Prepare realistic packages by way of formulating macro and micro schemes to help the villages in getting information necessary for their activities, such as, seeking assistance under various development schemes, including the names & address of the concerned contact officials, marketing of their agriculture and other products, including those of small scale and cottage industries as well as handicrafts, availing of credit facilities, education of children, employment opportunities, legal assistance etc.

vii. Collect such other information which can perhaps be helpful for the overall use of the Koraput region, the people as a whole, the local government officials, N.G.O's and people's representatives.

(b) The dreamers in the Department of Science and Technology both of the Central Government as well as the State Government have designed e-governance since long and are not able to give proper shape to it which became a vision now. It was felt that a more permanent, a more formal, over arching and enabling institutional frame work would be required to ensure continuity and sustainability to the movement. But our government system seems still rooted in a prototype of nineteenth century mindset has setin motion. Thus, TCRC which has visualised to establish with a referential e-library. The project aims to accelerate the efforts of the government.

(c) In this context TCRC envisages to document all types of informations in a user-friendly style. To start with the basic geographic information (GIS) which can come from the Survey of India map or some other map, can put layer on top of it with various kinds of data specific parameters upto a particular location and can have all the information pertaining to that location in one package.

(d) It is also true that the Government Departments as well as Private Sectors and NGO's face great difficulty of having at hand information on good culture specific data base on which it can do a lot of value addition and application.

V. In a nutshell this e-library will be a unique institution, at least, in Koraput region (four districts). It will not be like other libraries which are confined to the readers within the four walls. The major components of this library will be broad based information service, roping in new technologies, like computers, communication with GIS, reprography and micro biology. The services range from data bases, data banks, data base management systems, decision support systems, information retrieval systems etc. through aclipping service. Thus the Library (which is now functioning temporarily at the Tribal Museum, Koraput) is not for any intended solely religious institution, nor it is antagonistic to any religious order but it has a socialist secular approach.

VI. SPONSORSHIP FOR THE

TCRC invites helping hards for extending cooperation, collaboration and blessings of all concerned to serve the Koraput region, the southern most Tribal Region of Orissa which is now styled as KBK region.

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