The SBC Academic Committee has worked with the Library Committee to recently inaugurate the NALSAR Accessibility Lab – which provides students with visual challenges resources to work around with.
Former Vice-Chancellor Prof. (Dr.) Faizan Mustafa and Vice-Chancellor (i/c) Prof. (Dr.) Balakista Reddy inaugurating the NALSAR Accessibility Lab
The Lab consists of six systems, with 27-inch monitors, i7 systems, PEARL Scanner, Braille Printer, and other infrastructure which is required for such a lab. It also is loaded with software such as JAWS, NVDA and OpenBook which is required for the functions of the lab.
The NALSAR Accessibility Lab
In addition to this, the SBC Academic Committee is also purchasing Otter.ai, for the benefit of the students who have hearing disabilities. Otter.ai, which is a transcribing software, helps the students in getting their lectures down in a textual format – which would assist them in understanding the classes better.
The SBC Academic Committee will notify the release of this through email, and students who are eligible for access to Otter.ai can apply through the same.
The Library Development Sub-Committee (under the SBC Academic Committee) has worked with the university’s Library Committee for the acquisition of library resources worth 3.75 Crores (3.25 Crores for Law and 50 Lakhs for MBA). A total of 8361 new eBooks, 14 new eResources, and 1075 Print Books* have been acquired by the Library. In addition to this, provisions have also been made to support the IDIA to acquire software and hardware for the establishment of an IDIA Accessibility Lab for Persons with Disabilities.
The following are the details of the procurements:
FedGate – eResource Search Engine
One of the common concern which was received was that the eBooks which had been procured last year were not being used to their full potential due to there not being a unified search engine which provides direct access to these eBooks. Efforts were made to plug this hole by bringing the eBooks onto OPAC by coordinating with the Library Staff – but the solution was not ideal.
Hence, this year, a Search Engine known as FedGate has been procured which aims to integrate not only eBooks, but also some of the eResources to which NALSAR has access. FedGate also establishes a connection to our OPAC – which would bring the print books within the ambits of the search as well. The aim is that this be a one-stop destination for browsing through our collection of eResources.
The list of eBooks and eResources which are currently supported are as follows:
HeinOnline
Lexis Advance India Research
Manupatra
Cambridge eBooks
EBC Reader
Oxford University Press eBooks
ProQuest
SAGE Publications (eBooks)
Taylor and Francis eBooks
Economic and Political Weekly
JSTOR
IndiaStat
The developer has agreed to work on our other resources and eBook providers as well to integrate them into this system.
The eBooks purchased this year provide unlimited off-campus access will be available for access through our Off-Campus Access System (EzProxy). Books can be read online / downloaded from the publisher’s websites as available on EzProxy. Those resources supported by FedGate can be accessed directly from the same. These eBooks are in addition to the procurements made in 2020.
Year of Procurement
Number of eBooks
Pre-2020
42
2020 (Perpetual)
3,111
2020 (ProQuest)
1,80,000
2021 (Perpetual)
5,561
2021 (Wolters Kluwer)
2,800
TOTAL
1,91,514
Table 1.2 – NALSAR Library Procurements – Total eBooks
eResources
These eDatabases and News Portals join our already existing collection of 23 eDatabases and 2 News Portals.
eDatabases
S.No
Name of the eDatabase
Description
1
CaseMine
AI-based Judgement Search Engine
2
Maritime and Commercial Law Online (i-law.com)
Lloyd’s Law Reports, Lloyd’s Law Reports Plus, Lloyd’s Law Reporter, Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, Lloyd’s Maritime Law Newsletter, Shipping & Trade Law, Maritime Risk International, The Ratification of Maritime Conventions
3
Oxford’s Max Planck Encyclopedias of Public International Law
Public International Law
4
Oxford Scholarly Authorities on International Law
International Law
5
Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law
Constitutional Law
6
IndiaStat
Statistics
7
Taxmann Additional Modules (Tranfer Pricing and International Taxation) 2 years
NALSAR in collaboration with IDIA is setting up an Accessibility Lab in the NALSAR Library. The lab aims to make the University more accessible to Persons with Disabilities. The lab would have assistive technology which will help students with disability to effectively use the resources available in the library. Some of the software and hardware required for this project have been procured under the Library Budget.
NALSAR and IDIA are both committed to fulfilling goals of the Right of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. To provide inclusive education, necessary support that maximises academic and social development consistent with goal of full inclusion.
The list of software/hardware procured under the Library Budget is provided below:
S.No
Name of Product (Software / Hardware)
1
Angel India Online Daisy Player
2
Snow 7 HD Plus Video Magnifier
3
JAWS Talking Screen Reader for the Blind
4
ZoomText Screen Magnifier / Reader for the Partially Blind
5
OpenBook Scanning and Reading Software with Peral Hi-Speed Camera
A Google Form was opened for surveying the need for books amongst the student body – and in addition to this circulated the catalogue for LexisNexis amongst the Faculty Members as well as the Oxford Political Science Collection. In addition to this, orders for the Fiction and Non-Fiction collection of books which the students had requested for in 2020, but could not procure due to logistical difficulties, were placed and will be procured this year. The breakup of the books is provided below. Please note that the names of collections are code-names given during the procurement process. The exact list of books will be released soon and updated on OPAC.
Name of Publisher
Name of Collection
Number of Books*
LexisNexis
Phase 4.4
104
Bloomsbury Hart
Phase 4.5
82
Orient Blackswan
Phase 4.2
29
Oxford UP
Phase 4.2
101
EBC
Phase 4.2
1
Multiple
Phase 4.6
104
Multiple
List 4.7.1
38
Multiple
List 4.7.2
14
Multiple
List 4.7.3
25
Multiple
List 4.7.4
70
Multiple
List 4.5.5
45
Multiple
List 4.7.6
54
Multiple
Academic Committee Survey (Phase 1)
5
Multiple
Fiction / Non-Fiction (Phase 3 / 3.2.1)
150
Multiple
Fiction / Non-Fiction (Phase 3 / 3.2.2)
253
TOTAL
1075
Table 4 – NALSAR Library Acquisitions 2021 – Print Books * Books subject to availability with vendors and publishers
DELNET Membership
The NALSAR Library is now part of the DELNET Network of Libraries. DELNET has been established with the prime objective of promoting resource sharing among the libraries through the development of a network of libraries. It aims to collect, store, and disseminate information besides offering computerised services to users, to coordinate efforts for suitable collection development and also to reduce unnecessary duplication wherever possible.
Our access to resources includes a cross-library book delivery service, access to DELNET catalogues, and technical support to the library. The Library Development Sub Committee along with the Library Staff will soon devise a mechanism to enable the cross-library book delivery service.
OPAC / FedGate Kiosks
Two OPAC / FedGate Kiosks are being procured to make it possible for students to search for the available eBooks as well as the location of the print books in the library for easier access to the books.
Further steps will be taken to increase the ease of access of the print books in the library.
UI Changes to eLibrary Website
The eLibrary website has been updated to serve the students and faculty with easier ways to sort through the resources available. Sorting through the eDatabases has been made easier as sub-headings categorising the resources has been made, and the table of contents generation engine has been upgraded to ensure better performance.
Conclusion
I would firstly like to thank the tremendous efforts of Mr K. Somaiah from the Library without whose hard work and sleepless nights this exercise would not have been possible. I would like to thank the Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Faizan Mustafa, for his constant support and cooperation and vision to make NALSAR Library one of the best among the NLUs. I would also like to thank the Faculty members in the Library Committee, Prof. K V K Santhy (Chair), Mr Hota Agnikumar, Mr Sudhanshu Kumar and Mr Mahendra Shukla. The members of the Library Development Sub-Committee (Yashwanth Samayam, Utkarsh Mani Tripathi, Krishna Mohan, Ashish K James, and Ruchika Prabhu) have worked tirelessly to sort out the lists and also coordinate with the student body, and are also working on more projects for the betterment of our library. I would also like to thank the Library Staff, including Mr K Krishna (Assistant Librarian) as well as Mr B. Irfan from the IT Department for coordinating with us on the technical end of things. Lastly, I would like to thank all the students who have helped us with drafting the lists and helping us arrange our documents – without whom our work would have exponentially harder.
The SBC Academic Committee and the Library Development Sub-Committee will soon be sending a thread of emails as and when the resources are activated, along with details as to how to access them.
We are also planning to hold a session where we explain the resources and how to access them, both for the benefit of the faculty and the students, especially the first-year students. Details about this will also be sent out in due time.
DGV Rithvik Member, NALSAR Library Committee, Convenor, SBC Academic Committee, Head, Library Development Sub-Committee, NALSAR University of Law.
The Vice-Chancellor had constituted the following Covid-19 Committee for the B.A.LL.B.(Hons.) programme on May 5th 2020 to recommend examination pattern and related issues about the commencement of the next academic session:
Prof. Amita Dhanda (Chairperson)
Prof. N Vasanthi
Dr. Neha Pathakji
Mr. Sourabh Bharti
Mr. Ashish K James, Convenor, SBC Academic Committee.
The report was made in two parts, and the same are attached below:
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