Search

Chennai Port (13.099872° N, 80.297407° E), located along the southeast coast of India, has been a hub for maritime trade since the fifteenth century. An artificial harbour was initially constructed in 1881 which underwent numerous expansions in the following years. The breakwaters of the harbour intercepted the heavy sediment-laden littoral drift along the coast, resulting in the formation of the world's second-longest urban beach south of the port, i.e. on its up-drift side. Meanwhile, the coast north of the port, i.e. the down-drift side, experienced intense erosion due to a lack of sediment supply and forces induced on the coast due to waves and currents. The shoreline change study in this paper investigates a shoreline stretch of about 6 km (protected by transitional groynes), north of Chennai Port by dividing it into three segments. The rate of shoreline changes over a period of about 12 years across three different segments was assessed using statistical parameters by employing remote sensing techniques complemented with geographical information system (GIS) and digital shoreline analysis system (DSAS) tool. It is inferred that the coast has witnessed accretion and sizable growth in beach width has been observed post the construction of groyne field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the survey of libraries located in and around Chennai comprising of academic (government and private universities), public and special. The purpose of this paper is to present the state-of-the-art of the libraries and the specific objectives are to survey and compare the major academic, public and special libraries in and around Chennai with regard to the collection, manpower, resources (print and e-resources), and information and comminication technology (ICT)-based services, etc; to identify the issues and challenges being faced by the librarians and to offer suggestions and recommendations for the improvement of the libraries. A total of 32 libraries comprising of 9 government universities, 13 private universities, 3 public and 7 special have been considered for this survey. The data has been collected during January and mid-February 2015 based on a structured questionnaire. There exists variation in the infrastructure, print and e-resources and services (traditional and ICT-based) offered in the libraries of those institutions. Based on the results of the survey, a few suggestions and recommendations are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]