Date:25/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/25/stories/2008102559460300.htm

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Exhibition of United Nations, World Bank publications on

Staff Reporter

Varsity library not able to fulfil UN operating conditions

Exhibition to conclude on November 7
Library has 35,000 books received from UN, WB

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A 15-day exhibition of World Bank (WB) and United Nations (UN) publications began here on Friday at the Kerala University Library amidst concerns that the library is not able to fulfil the operating conditions laid down by the UN for such depositories.

The library has a treasure trove of UN publications including the World Investment Directory, the Disarmament Yearbook, the annual reports of the UN University and the Little Data Book Series. Some volumes of these series have been displayed at the exhibition. In all, the library has about 35,000 books received from the UN and the WB. According to library officials, all these books contain information that would be of crucial help to scholars for research in various areas. For instance, the Global Economic Prospects, the World Development Report and the World Development Indicator series offer WB-authenticated data across a range of parameters in Economics and development.

The ‘social pathology’ series offers insights into societal ills that plague communities and nations around the world and on strategies being adopted to combat these. The book ‘Data Against Natural Disasters,’ as the title reveals, is all about battling natural calamities and about taking precautions.

The exhibition also features WB books that deal with issues relating to knowledge economy, telecommunication, agriculture, water resources, climate, women, health, education, public administration, poverty, globalisation and human rights, among others.

All these books have been displayed at the exhibition in addition to UN books on population and gender studies and drugs and crime. The exhibition will conclude on November 7.

As per the guidelines laid down by the UN for its depositories, the books should be accessible to the public free of cost, for the maximum possible time a day. The depository should offer Internet access and the facility to photocopy the material free of cost.

A large number of UN publications are now available online. There is no print version of such documents. A free Net connection to access such publications is, in such a situation, all the more imperative.

The UN/World Bank collection is now displayed at a corner of the library’s first floor. There is no Internet or photocopying facility there. There is not even enough space between the shelves for a person to browse the titles on display.

Library officials told The Hindu that the institution would be in real danger of losing its status as a depository if UN representatives were to carry out an inspection now. The last inspection was done in 2002.