Training workshop on Open Source Digital Library Software

A section of the participants

A three-day training workshop from 1 to 3 November was held at the National Science Foundation (NSF) on ‘Open Source Digital Library Software – Java CDS/ISIS’ for the officials of banks, industry, and science research.

The software – J-ISIS is a new multiplatform Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) ISIS provides the same concepts and functionalities as the UNESCO CDS/ISIS for Windows (WinISIS) software. J-ISIS removes many of the WinISIS limitations and restrictions, uses a Client/Server architecture, is fully UNICODE and benefits of the latest software developments.

J-ISIS follows the CDS/ISIS concepts to keep the assets and experience of the users, such that users familiar with the CDS/ISIS software family will also be familiar with J-ISIS and will retrieve the same concepts. On the developer side, the main objective is to develop a long-term solution that would be modular, easy maintainable and extensible.

In inaugurating the workshop NSF Director General Prof. Ananda Jayawardena said that their key mandate is to work as a hub institution to make available science technology and information to science and technology community and under that they have been doing many projects one of which is the current training workshop that of digitisation of the libraries in the institutions and that is being carried out under three phases. 

He said that so far they have digitised institutions covering about three million pages of scientific and technology material and the NSF maintains a repository which is available for all the institutions and scientists to access the information.

He said that they act like a gateway to the science and technology information researchers and the academics. In addition to that they also have the capacities of librarians in providing better and efficient service for the users through training workshops.

He indicated that this training workshop is the latest WinISIS which is J-ISIS a library software package which can be used to enhance the efficiency of cataloguing and developing data bases. Through this three day training programme it equips the librarians to use this software for developing their data bases and developing their catalogues so that it can be accessed easily with e software training they provide, he said.

Prof. Jayawardena indicated that this Library Services Centre is often provide training programs to the library community and it is another aspect that they are trying to develop. And also their library is the main body in Sri Lanka in administering Sri Lanka Journals online projects.

Under that he said that so far they have about 79 journals to facilitate and through that all these online journals, editors have been trained by the NSF Library ad they are providing or uploading their information to the Sri Lanka Journals online and indicated that they have got training from abroad where they continue to their stakeholders.

He said that now they have 100% undertaken to do this administrative work and in that context they are the main body which facilitate the Sri Lanka Journals online throughout Sri Lanka which provide access to Sri Lankan literature and to even provide the people out in the world as well. He said, “We actually trying to project our research findings to the outside the world.”

Two NSF Information Officers – Thasneem Niyas and Renuka Sugathadasa conducted the training.