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Conferencia realizado del 12 al 14 de setiembre en Lima, Peru del 2012 en el marco del 15º Simposio Internacional de Tesis y Disertaciones Electrónicas (ETD 2012). Evento aupiciado por la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM) y la Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC)., One of the reasons that we know so little of ancient life is because much of written history of those times has been lost. We can only speculate what really happened. If only we had not lost all the treasures…If only we had preserved that knowledge somewhere else or in some other medium, then probably mankind need not have to start all over again re-discovering knowledge. The loss of knowledge is due to three reasons - Disasters, Media Deterioration, and Alternative Formats & Obsolete Technology A clear idea about what could be lost will only lead us to take precautionary steps or to lessen the damage. Within a library and information service (LIS), the most likely disasters are fire or flood, but those caused by wind, earthquakes and other natural phenomena can also happen. Acts of sabotage or terrorism may occur which can destroy, or seriously disrupt the LIS. And with more and more information being held in electronic format, computer disasters, whether caused by system failure or unauthorized access and hacking into files, are becoming more common. Information is necessarily recorded on some kind of medium. All media deteriorate over time, at different rates and for different reasons. When information is provided in alternative formats – for example microforms or digitized form - equipment for using them must not only be provided, but also kept maintained in good working condition. Preserving long-term access to digital information resources is one of the key challenges facing libraries and information centers today. The paper iterates what steps have been taken by Physical Research Laboratory, Library to overcome this challenge., India

Several investigators have conducted bibliometric analysis of research productivity of different countries in the world. A few studies have also been carried out to assess the productivity and impact of a single institute. As no bibliometric study on Physical Research Laboratory, India has been done before, the researcher thought it appropriate to carry out the study for her doctoral research with the following objectives: To study the division wise output of research To identify the thrust areas of research at PRL The present bibliometric study aims to measure the research output of Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) during a 10 year period (1997-2006) using the data of papers published in journals. The content analysis of the articles published in journals and the use of PACS to allot keywords helped to identify the thrust areas of research carried out in PRL during 1997-2006. The study found that. 515 papers were published in subject field of Theoretical Physics (PACS 0-70), 57 papers were published in Interdisciplinary subject fields (corresponding to PACS number 80) and Geophysics, Astronomy and Astrophysics (PACS number 90) account for more than half of the total share of articles published in journals (746) during the ten year period in PRL. Further classification of these subject fields have indicated the thrust areas of research carried out in Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad. The researcher hopes that this information will be useful to the institute’s decision makers for future research planning.

Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) is an institute of national repute and is being funded by Department of Space (Government of India). However, a bibliometric study measuring its research output has not been carried out yet. The present study is a step in that direction and tries to find the publication pattern of research carried out in the institute. The period covered is 1997 to 2006. The study aims to quantify the publication output of researchers at the institute, to study the productivity of scientists in PRL and to determine whether it conforms to the Lotka’s Law. It tries to discern the authorship and collaboration pattern in journals as well as the conference proceedings. It also tries to find the preferred mode of publication of PRL scientists. The record of papers - published in journals and conference proceedings - and invited talks delivered have been used to study the publication pattern. The source for this data is the Annual Reports of the institute for the period of 1997-2006. The study found that multiple authored and double authored papers are on the rise in PRL. Comparing the data of collaborative papers in journals and conference proceedings, international collaboration is higher in journals than in conference proceedings. The journals most preferred by PRL scientists for publication are Physical Review A followed by Current Science and Physical Review D during 1997-2006. The study also found that Prof. G. S. Agarwal, was the most prolific author followed by Prof. A. K. Singhvi and Prof Utpal Sarkar as regards publications in journals.