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Reports on INFLIBNET’s annual convention International CALIBER – 2004 that was held at Jamia Millia Islamia, a central university in New Delhi on 11‐13 February. States that the theme of the convention was “Road Map to New Generation of libraries using emerging technologies” and papers were presented which emphasized the importance of the architecture of information for libraries and the need for a globalized information environment. The concluding session of the convention proposed that CALIBER – 2004 was an excellent opportunity for librarians and students to interact with experts in the field and that it would boost the ongoing initiatives for a library information system in agriculture libraries.

Owing to diminishing library budgets, coupled with the information explosion, academic librarians in India are finding it difficult to meet the insatiable demands of their clientele. For a country as geographically vast as India, having many universities located in remote places, this problem is compounded. Efforts were made in the past to provide document delivery services through a few documentation centres, set up by the Government in different disciplines. This paper focuses on the initiatives launched by the University Grants Commission of India in the last few years, through the INFLIBNET Centre, to provide this service through electronic means by computerizing university libraries, establishing a network and setting up document delivery centres.

This study aims to evaluates the existing and potential facilities in Iranian Islamic Sciences Centers (ISCs), including information resources, budget, human resources and facilities. It identifies the views of Center managers in order to find grounds for cooperation and collaboration and to develop communication and information exchanges between the Centers.

The population of this research includes all 123 ISCs in Iran. Questionnaires were distributed in a three‐month interval (August to October, 2008). The data were analyzed using SPSS software (Version 16).

The findings show that ISCs support the establishment of a network and would join it; however, lack of professionals in the informatics and network development, lack of in‐service training facilities, lack of financial and facilities, lack of access to the resources of other centers and the absence of fast exchange of information are among the problems that need much attention.

To establish the network, three issues should be considered, i.e. human resources, budget, and facilities of the centers.

The paper can serve as a driver to improve the efficiency in ISCs through establishing an information network to serve them.

Reports on the second phase of "ICAR‐INFLIBNET Training Programme for Agriculture Librarians on Networking and E‐Resources Management", a series of nine training programmes organized in two phases and hosted by the Indian Inter‐University Information & Network Centre. The programme, of two weeks duration, was supported by the World Bank through the National Agriculture Technology Project in New Delhi, India. The programme was specially designed for agricultural library professionals of Indian State Agriculture University, Agriculture Colleges and R&D institutes. The second phase was conducted during November 2003.

Few people living in informal settlements in the Global South spontaneously claim that they are “resilient” or “adapting” to disaster risk or climate change. Surely, they often overcome multiple challenges, including natural hazards exacerbated by climate change. Yet their actions are increasingly examined through the framework of resilience, a notion developed in the North, and increasingly adopted in the South. To what extent eliminate’ do these initiatives correspond to the concepts that scholars and authorities place under the resilience framework?

Three longitudinal case studies in Yumbo, Salgar and San Andrés (Colombia) serve to investigate narratives of disaster risks and responses to them. Methods include narrative analysis from policy and project documents, presentations, five workshops, six focus groups and 24 interviews.

The discourse adopted by most international scholars and local authorities differs greatly from that used by citizens to explain risk and masks the politics involved in disaster reduction and the search for social justice. Besides, narratives of social change, aspirations and social status are increasingly masked in disaster risk explanations. Tensions are also concealed, including those regarding the winners and losers of interventions and the responsibilities for disaster risk reduction.

Our findings confirm previous results that have shown that the resilience framework contributes to “depoliticize” the analysis of risk and serves to mask and dilute the responsibility of political and economic elites in disaster risk creation. But they also show that resilience fails to explain the type of socioeconomic change that is required to reduce vulnerabilities in Latin America.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate digitization activities in university libraries in Nigeria and to identify the challenges encountered in their various digitization projects.

Data collection for the study was in two phase. First, a telephone conversation with university librarians is to investigate whether they have adopted digitization of materials. Second, e-mail questionnaire was sent to the various university libraries into digitization projects.

The study revealed that only few university libraries have adopted digitization of their information resources in Nigeria. The main aim of the digitization projects is to have greater access to local contents globally. However, the digitization projects are faced with challenges such as unstable internet connectivity, lack of fund, irregular power supply, collecting materials for digitization, lack of IT personnel, absence of digitization policy, and copyright issues. Ways to overcome the challenges were suggested such as provision of stable internet connectivity, installation of solar energy, purchase of giant generators, and training of staff.

Findings from this study might be useful to university libraries in developing countries that are planning to go into digitization of information resources for global accessibility.

This paper aims to describe the use of electronic resources and services provided at the central library of Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. The paper is focused to know who these electronic information services users are, how often they use the services and the place where the information is accessed. Also, the users are asked to give their preferences between an electronic and print journal format.

The questionnaire method is used for collecting the data from the users (i.e. undergraduate, postgraduate, research scholar and faculty), categories‐wise.

It has been found that usage of e‐journals is increasing; this is due to awareness among the users about the library e‐resources and services. Owing to an easy access available at various places in the institute, users are accessing these resources at hostels and departments more as compared to the library. The users coming to library have decreased.

The present paper will help other institutes understand the need for library electronic resources, and motivate them to update their resources in the larger interest of the students, faculty and research scholars. The paper also indicates how a suitably designed survey can show the awareness and use of types of information services, in this case e‐journals. There is a dearth of such studies in India and the methodology and findings can be applied to other libraries to reveal similar trends as well as comparisons.

Disaster risk reduction is of prime importance in informal settlements in the Global South, where several forms of vulnerability coexist. Policy and official programmes, however, rarely respond to the needs and expectations of citizens and local leaders living in these settlements. Even though these agents constantly attempt to reduce risks in their own way, we know very little about their activities, motivations and effective impact on risk reduction. Here we seek to conceptualize bottom-up initiatives to better grasp their origins, limitations and success.

Through a four-year action-research project in Colombia, Cuba and Chile, we theorize about the production of change by local agents. Through detailed case studies we explored the activism of 17 local leaders. Through narrative analysis we studied their motivations and explanations. Finally, by documenting 22 initiatives, we revealed effective changes in space.

In the face of risk and disasters, residents and leaders in informal settings engaged in symbolic, physical and social spaces of interaction. Their actions were guided by trust, emotions, time cycles and activism. Local agency was justified by narratives about risk and climate change that differ from those of authorities and scholars.

There is still limited understanding of bottom-up initiatives in informal settings. It is crucial to conceptualize their origins, limitations and success. The focus on three specific countries necessitates further research for broader applicability and understanding.

A better comprehension of bottom-up actions is crucial for informing policies and programmes aimed at reducing risk in informal settings. Stakeholders must recognize the political, social and cultural roles of these actions for more impactful climate action.

We borrow Simon’s concept of “artefact” to introduce the notion of “Artefacts of Disaster Risk Reduction”, providing insights into the multifaceted nature of bottom-up initiatives. We also emphasize the simultaneous political and phenomenological character of these actions, contributing to a deeper understanding of their origins and impact.

The study examines the impact of socio-economic governance on economic growth in Nigeria. It measures socio-economic governance from the perspective of fiscal policy, using indicators such as investment in education, research and development (R&D) and health.

This study employs the Autoregressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) Bound Testing method to achieve its objective.

The study finds that socio-economic policies aimed at increasing investment in education are crucial for Nigeria’s long-term economic growth. Additionally, investment in R&D positively impacts economic growth. However, the study reveals that investment in health negatively affects economic growth in Nigeria in the long run. This suggests that if a country overinvests in health, it may divert resources from other vital sectors such as education, infrastructure and R&D, which can hinder overall economic growth. The short-run parameter is, however, not statistically significant in this study.

The study’s originality lies in its exploration of the relationship between socio-economic governance and economic growth in Nigeria, specifically from a fiscal policy perspective. It highlights the importance of investing in education and R&D for long-term economic growth. Additionally, the finding that overinvestment in health may have a negative impact on long-term economic growth provides valuable insight for policymakers in Nigeria and other developing countries. Overall, this study’s findings can be beneficial for policymakers and researchers interested in the intersection between socio-economic governance and economic growth in developing countries.

This paper aimed to the enhancement of health-care services at a female penitentiary center in Costa Rica by implementing good documentation practices (GDocP) and good storage and distribution practices (GSDP) among the staff responsible for medications (SRM).

The methodology used in this project was qualitative, as it sought to deepen and reinforce the knowledge of the SRM about GDocP and GSDP in the Vilma Curling CAI to achieve its implementation. Additionally, different questionnaires were applied to measure the initial level of knowledge of GDocP and GSDP and the new skills acquired by the SRM at the end of the project.

Some improvement opportunities were identified in pharmaceutical service, management of the documentary system and knowledge of GDocP and GSDP among SRM. It is important to highlight the essential role of pharmacists, as experts in medical products, in health-care teams. Their participation significantly contributes to improving health outcomes for vulnerable populations, such as incarcerated women.

Limitations included a small sample size, the security regulations to entry to the penitentiary center and limited information related to the implementation of GDocP and GSDP in such environment.

This project explores a poorly researched field such as the implementation of GDocP and GSDP and the impact that this could have on the pharmaceutical service of a penitentiary center.