The National Medical Library in New Delhi has its website at www.nml.nic.in.
On its home page it mentions:
Our Philosophy : Excellence. At NML, we are driven by a singular focus on medicine. And our dedication to the medical community follows suit. Which is why we have earned the distinction of being one of the leading resource of medical information in Asia.
In the about us page it mentions:
The National Medical Library aims to provide wide and efficient library and information services to the health science (HS) professionals in India. It functions under the administrative control of the Directorate General of Health Services.
And yet in its inner page – Interlinking:
There is a reference to interlinking of libraries and a mention of hardware, software and….a telephone connection exclusively for internet connection!!
(Snapshot taken on 6 Aug 2013)
Telephone line?? For internet access? Can they not afford more for libraries? And are libraries expected to provide “Excellent Services” with outdated technology?
Can we work towards “True Interlinking”, where
- Libraries have the minimum of Broadband Internet Access?
- Librarians are constantly trained to help users access and use resources?
- Systems are in place to ensure that libraries can get articles from each other, for their users? (Ensuring that there is a viable system, with some charges for services and copyright violations do not occur
This will happen if all those of you who want such services, get together and do something about it. QMed is prepared to guide and lead. Of course there will be problems and issues. But can we get started and go over obstacles, treating them as “Stepping Stones” ?
