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‘Disability’; the ‘D’ word generally speaks its own meaning, as anyone who is different from others in terms of physical and mental impairment. There are various types of disabilities; broad categories such as physical and communication disability, mental illness and mental retardation, learning disabilities and so forth. In this article, an attempt has been made to describe the term ‘visual impairment’ which falls under the category of physical and communication disability. The next section of the article presents activities of the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped, Dehradun, India to make the visually impaired self-sufficient and to recognize the role played by the Institute in disseminating information to them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Christian missionaries working in India in the nineteenth century made numerous important contributions to European and North American understandings of Islam. One such contribution was theDictionary of Islamcompiled by the Anglican missionary Thomas Patrick Hughes, who was serving in Peshawar on the border between British India and Afghanistan. Drawing upon sources such as collections of Hadith, he provided both brief definitions and some longer analyses of a wide range of aspects of Muslim beliefs, practices and history. However, his compilation was not entirely based on textual sources, but was also informed by daily contact with Muslims in and around Peshawar, particularly Maulavi Ahmad of Tangi. Hughes combined his interest in defining Islam with a passion for exploring and explaining Afghan culture and politics to his readership in Britain. Although situated on ‘the edges of empire’, Hughes nonetheless found himself at the centre of world events as the intrigue between Britain and Russia resulted in the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Although located in what some considered a minor province on the periphery of the Muslim world, he nonetheless produced a major reference work on Islam that is still in print. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this article is to highlight the status and application of an automated cataloging system in central university libraries in north India. Data has been collected using questionnaires. Interview and observation techniques have also been used to bring objectivity in the present study. Results show that varying levels of progress have been made with respect to implementation of a cataloging system. Results also show that with the help of automation, libraries have satisfied user communities by way of easy retrieval. It has removed discrepancies and set a trend for standardization. Furthermore, staff morale has been boosted up in an automated environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) libraries represent an important component of the scientific and technical information system in India, but there are a few studies published in national and international library and information science journals that describe the thirty-seven member libraries. We provide an overview of the names of the libraries, their locations, dates of founding, subject focus, and holdings. We then review forty-eight articles that deal with one or more of them. We find that most studies have focused on resource sharing, interlibrary loan, document delivery, and the increasing use of e-resources. A few studies address staffing, library budgets, and management practices and the overall impact of these libraries on research and development. Our goal is to provide librarians within India and abroad with a foundation upon which to advance studies of this network and its member libraries, and to extend comparisons to other sci-tech networks in India and across the globe that have a similar sci-tech focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]