On-Line-Learning—ICT-initiatives-of-MHRD-and-UGC

Fr. Verstraeten Central Library of St. Xavier’s College plays a pivotal role in the teaching-learning process of the College. It is the fulcrum of all academic activities of all UG & PG coursesand research studies. The Library has a rich collection of around 69,000 books, old and rare books, valuable reference books, journals, educational CDs/DVDs and innumerable e-books, e-journals, and other resources for the use of its members.

Nobel Laureate Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore once mentioning the significance of libraries said,

• The Library provides services to the students, staffs, research scholars, faculty members and Fathers of the College through an automated mode by using open source library management software Koha (version 16.05).
• The software has also been integrated with RFID technology.
• There are three lending counters including a self-circulation kiosk.
• Auto generated e-mail alert services for every library transaction.
• The entire library is now integrated with the RFID enabled Gate Security System with the help of two-pedestal antenna.
• A round-the-clock surveillance is made through the CCTVs.
• Computerized attendance system at the entrance for the students.
• Library members can know their reading and search history; they can re-issue their issued items with the help of Web-OPAC facility from My Library.
• The cubicles are specially meant for students engaged in project works and teacher-student discussions beyond class-hour.
• E-resource Access Section with Wi-Fi facility.
• The library provides Book-Bank facility for financially challenged students from all disciplines.
• The photocopy and printout facility.
• Download forms for Library purposes including a complete guide to the Library Resources in PDF format.
• The library provides current-awareness service to the readers through new arrivals display, announcement posters, newsletters, etc.
• A student can borrow at most four books at a time for fourteen days, which are further renewable for fourteen days.
• Each shelf is accompanied with shelf guide, which indicates shelf number, class number and subjects concerned.
• The library presently subscribes more than 140 periodicals, including both journals and magazines and 16 dailies.
• The online database Prowess, Economic Outlook and IndiaStat can be accessed from the library.
• The e-books and e-journals are also accessible through INFLIBNET-NLIST.
• Oxford, Pearson and Gale Virtual Reference Library e-books, Online Sage journals are available from Central Library’s E-Resource Access Section.
• The library has Institutional Membership with British Council Library and American Library.
• Previous years semester question papers
• Online Feedback for further improvement of Library services.

Membership:

The membership of the Library is open to Fathers, faculty members, research scholars, students and support staff of the College. The outside research scholars, eminent persons of the society, retired faculty members and staff members, and alumni/nae members of the College are also eligible for getting membership subject to the approval of the College authority.

The Central Library of the College has well-equipped and spacious reading room facility with seating capacity of 250 (two hundred and fifty) users. The reference books, periodicals and current awareness sections also function from reading room for reader’s convenience. Some rare collections of the College are displayed in the reading room.

The book bank facility is provided only to students belonging to economically challenged groups and communities. Besides regular library facilities, they can issue at most four books from book-bank for a full semester. The textbooks are mainly emphasized for this section, though very few common reference books may also be lent out.

Books and journals relating to different competitive examinations like IAS, Career / Service Oriented programs and other documents related to the subjects are available for consultation in the library.

Books and e-books relating to UGC CSIR NET / SET ( JRF & LS ) are available in the library.

The Ready-Reference Tools relating to general reference consultation are available in the Reading Room. The following categories of Ready Reference Tools are generally available:

• Dictionary
• Encyclopedia
• Year book
• Almanac
• Handbook
• Directory
• Guide book etc

One internet-facilitated computer is directly connected with the photocopy machine for taking print out of any online and also offline materials.

CD-ROM databases, CDs/ DVDs for both borrowing and reading room reference.

The newly added resources to library (books, journals, CDs etc.) are displayed for 7 days in the Reading Room.

Students and faculty members can place requisition for a book that is not available in the library. The requisition should be given in the Demand Book Register available from the concerned library staff and through the Web OPAC facility.

Download Book Requisition Form.

Thanks to generous donations of books by the Provincial Governments and European missionaries during the last two centuries, the Central Library holds a golden treasury of very old and rare documents. Since these documentary heritage is continuously decaying with time the college initiated a project for preservation and conservation of these rare documents with the full financial support from UNESCO, New Delhi in 2006. Under the collaborative project, selected rare documents from the College library have been recovered, preserved and digitized. The oldest collection dates back to AD 1632. As part of the project, a set of 4 DVDs containing some of the digitized documents and rare paintings was published. All these documents are preserved with much care in Goethals Library.

• Institutional membership at British Council Library, Kolkata
• Institutional membership at American Library, Kolkata.
• Inter-library-loan facility.