Re-engineering NCSI: an approach paper

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The proclaimed objective of NCSI at the time of its inception was to

facilitate the availability of abstracts and research papers to scientists

and researchers across the country, the keyword being 'access'. This
marked an attempt at bringing about a change in the existing culture.
In that sense, NCSI was a 'change' agency that focused on 'information

dissemination'. With rapid technological developments, it is my view that

the center should continue to play a change-inducing role through provision

of appropriate services. This requires an appreciation of the challenges

that institutions of higher learning face and understanding of how these
could be met. Such a top-down approach would enable a more 'holistic'
conceptualization of services than what a technology driven approach would
permit.

In keeping with the above, I envision the center to play the role of a
'scientific knowledge management center' that would build systems and offer
services that would support administration, research and learning. Such a
center could help in taking advantage of and putting to work the integrative
character of knowledge and become the epicenter of knowledge- based reforms.
For instance, the center could become the nodal point for 'institutional
research' that would inform institute policy making, contribute to better
management of knowledge for facilitating an interdisciplinary approach to
research problems, play a role in building innovation ecosystems and conduct
knowledge based studies related to these areas.

Information service professionals have always been viewed as intermediaries
between information producers and information users. The original objective
of NCSI in facilitating information 'dissemination' was in keeping with such
an intermediary role. It is my belief that the center should, in addition to
new knowledge based services, continue to play this part even in
the technology infused changed environment.There are new problems
and challenges that can be effectively dealt with only by intermediaries.
NCSI is best suited to continue to travel along this trajectory even while
fulfilling other roles.

As institutions of higher learning become more accountable in a knowledge
society, their survival may depend on a much broader definition of
accountability, one that encompasses public and civic commitment. The best
way to guarantee the future of the university is to reposition it at the
heart of the public sphere, " establishing strong links with the public
culture, providing the public with enlightenment about the mechanisms of
power and seeking alternate forms of social organization." New complementary
forms between the public and private spheres for efficient resource
allocation in the production and use of knowledge are coming into being.
Government agencies are one of the largest sources of public data, and yet
most of it goes completely unutilized, when it could provide a platform for
countless new public services. Though there have been strides in modernizing
government service delivery, the potential for public sector innovation has
barely been trapped. A good start can be made by making more public
information accessible to people and organizations that could put it to
productive uses. The best uses of public data are often made by
organizations in the non -profit sector that are free of the political
considerations that hamstring government agencies.

NCSI, as a unit of IISc set up to cater to the public dimension of the
knowledge based economy, can play an important role in reinforcing the
public and civic commitment of the Institute by contributing to creating new
platforms for participation and public knowledge. In this context, the
Neighborhood Knowledge California (NKCA) project (a participatory research
project with residents from Vernon-Central, a low- income neighborhood in
Los Angeles) of UCLA's Center for Neighborhood Knowledge is worthy of
emulation.

Over the years, a number of Internet based productivity enhancing tools have
appeared. Potential users, however, lack awareness and appreciation of their
utility in contributing to their effectiveness at work, preoccupied that
they are with their core businesses such as research and teaching. An
understanding of mere technological aspects of these tools will not suffice;
their economic dimensions also need to be known in order to be able to put
the tools to maximum advantage. New economic concepts rather than major
innovations in technology have now begun dictating productivity increases.
NCSI can play the role of an evangelist by disseminating knowledge about
utility of these concepts and tools for the Institute community. The center
has, in the past, played this role in a small way when assistance to users
in database searching was in vogue. The evangelist role can now be taken up
as a distinct activity in a full-fledged fashion.
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Manu Rajan
NCSI