application of cloud computing in librarties :an indian scenario

ACADEMIC LIBRARY SERVICES THROUGH CLOUD COMPUTING - MOVING LIBRARIES TO THE WEB 231

Application of Cloud Computing in Libraries:An Indian Scenario

Ramakant ShuklaLibrarian

Delhi Technological University Bawana Road, Delhi 110042

ABSTRACTThe paper elucidates various definitions of cloudcomputing given by different experts and professionalbodies, enlists some real world examples of paid andfree cloud computing services. It also provides theworld wide examples of application of cloud computingby the libraries with special reference to Indian libraries.

Keywords: Cloud computing, application of cloudcomputing, cloud computing libraries.

INTRODUCTIONCloud computing is a new technology model for ITservices which many business enterprises andorganizations are adopting. It allows them to avoidlocally hosting multiple servers and equipment and thehassle of constantly dealing with hardware failure,software installs, upgrades and compatibility issues.For many organizations, cloud computing can simplifyprocesses and save time and money1

Understanding of cloud differs from people to people.ACM defines cloud computing as “Cloud computing isabout moving services, computation and/or data off-site to an internal or external, location-transparent,centralized facility or contractor.”2

Marios D. Dikaiakos et al. say, “Cloud computing deals

with computation, software, data access and storageservices that may not require end-user knowledge ofthe physical location and the configuration of the systemthat is delivering the services. Cloud computing is arecent trend in IT that moves computing and data awayfrom desktop and portable PCs into large datacenters”4. The definition of cloud computing providedby National Institute of Standards and Technology(NIST) says that: “Cloud computing is a model forenabling convenient, on-demand network access to ashared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g.,networks, servers, storage applications and services)that can be rapidly provisioned and released withminimal management effort or service providerinteraction.”5

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT), world’s leading informationtechnology research and advisory company Groupdefines cloud computing as “a style of computing inwhich massively scalable and elastic IT-enabledcapabilities are delivered as a service to externalcustomers using Internet technologies.”3

In various presentations KPMG a business advisoryfirm breaks this into essentially four different types ofcloud computing: infrastructure, platform, applicationsand services. To put this in more concrete terms,examples of each can be:

Type What it is Examples

Infrastructure Buying space/time on external servers Amazon A3 Bungee Dropbox

Platform An existing software platform to build your Facebookown applications on

Applications Software applications accessed with a Google Drive Salesforce.comWeb browser skydrive

Services Ready to use services accessed with a Web browser ADP

The above table illustrates why there are varyingdefinitions of cloud computing. Many cloud servicesactually incorporate two or more of these types. Forexample, Google drive provides infrastructure as well

as applications. It should also be noted that many cloudapplications and services are actually using anotherproviders’ cloud infrastructure to run their service, whichwill be touched on later in this article.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ACADEMIC LIBRARIES 2013232

Libraries have been using some cloud computingservices for over a decade. Online databases areaccessed as cloud applications. Large union catalogscan also be defined as cloud applications. However, alook outside libraries is warranted to better understandthe value proposition of cloud computing.

AREAS FOR APPLICATION OF CLOUDCOMPUTING SOLUTIONS IN LIBRARIESThe libraries can apply the concept of cloud computingto enhance the power of cooperation and to build asignificant, unified presence on the Web. This approachto computing can help libraries save time and moneywhile simplifying workflows. These can be grouped intothree basic areas: technology, data and community.

TechnologyLibrary management (LMS, also known as the inte-grated library system or ILS) systems were developedbefore the Internet and Web came into existence andare generally closed proprietary systems. It has beendifficult and costly for these closed systems to takeadvantage of emerging technologies. It is very challen-ging to integrate these systems to external systemsand libraries are dependent on their vendors to do anysuch integration.

As per fifth law of library science “library is a growingorganism” hence over the time libraries require to addmore systems to manage their changing collectionswhich have moved from strictly physical collectionmanagement to a combination of physical, licensedand digital collections. Since each of these LMS hasstood alone integrating them has been difficult and atseveral cases not possible.

In a cloud environment for managing core libraryservices, the first possibility would be of open serviceoriented architecture. Many cloud solutions offer thistype of openness with published application programinterfaces (APIs) that any programmer can takeadvantage of. Secondly, libraries can get out of thebusiness of technology and focus on collection building,patron services and innovation. Servers can bedecommissioned and no longer require replacementevery five years (or less). Library staff no longer has togo into their environment and maintain the complexsoftware necessary to run local systems and worryabout compatibility of the software during upgrades.Instead technical skills can be re-deployed forextending cloud services into other cloud services.

DataWhen data is stored in the cloud it offers severaladvantages. Common data can now be easily

shared among services and users. The need for localstorage, maintenance and backups is removed.Agreements can be made to share data consideredprivate to a single organization. And finally libraries canachieve Web scale when they massively aggregate

data and users – something a cloud environmentmakes possible.

Just like the advantages of technology deployed andaccessed as cloud solutions, data storage in the cloudbrings many benefits for libraries. Imagine how manycopies of the cataloging data are there for a serialpublication across libraries subscribing the same title.And if a change is needed to the cataloging data tokeep it current all libraries have to perform that changeindividually. When this data is maintained in the cloud,maintenance and backup of this data is now done onceand if a change is needed, one library only performsthe change and all share it. Another great benefit ofdata stored in the cloud is the opportunity for collabora-tion and cooperation. Libraries can agree to share poolsof data for cooperative collection building, cooperativepreservation or digitization, cooperative sharing ofmaterials, etc. And with massively aggregated data newservices can be created such as recommenderservices based on a broad base of usage data.

CommunityLibraries have a somewhat unique opportunity withcloud computing, to create an online informationcommunity network. Such a community is really twocommunities, the internal community of libraries,collaborating within a single institution and acrossinstitutions and the external community of libraries andinformation seekers. The value to libraries is the“network effect” that coming together in the cloud. Thecooperative efforts of libraries will create scale savingsand efficiencies, bring wider recognition for libraries,and provide cooperative

intelligence for better decision-making, and provide theplatform on which libraries can innovate.

Existing social communities such as Face book orTwitter can be used for the purpose. The internalcommunity formed through the cloud offers newpossibilities and efficiencies for current workflows.Starting with a single organization the simple task ofcollaboratively working on documents and maintainingversion control either requires extensive manualprocesses between colleagues or a locally installedsystem to assist in collaboration and version control.Many librarians have discovered the power of serviceslike Google Docs to reduce the effort of working jointly.Services like these allow them to easily share ongoingwork whenever they want and wherever they are.

The potential for collaboration between libraries is trulyrevolutionary in a cloud environment. When data andfunctions are shared in the cloud, libraries can makejoint decisions on collection development, preservation,digitization, etc. in real time. As demonstrated byOCLC’s Question Point virtual reference service andits 24/7 cooperative a single libraries ability to assistpatron’s is expanded beyond the constraint of its ownwalls and hours of operation to become a true cloudservice.


REAL WORLD EXAMPLES OF CURRENTLIBRARY CLOUD SOLUTIONSTo date, the main focus of libraries moving into thecloud has been discovery services, the need to disclosetheir vast collections on the Web. Though libraryOPACs attract existing patrons they are not integratedwith most information seekers common workflows. So,a first step for libraries has been to start massivelyaggregating data about their collections into commonpools. OCLC’s WorldCat, the first example of thisnature, is now forty-year old and pre-dates both theWeb and cloud computing. Other similar union catalogshave existed throughout the world most commonlysupported by national libraries and large union catalogs,such as the National Library of Australia, the BayerischeStaatsbibliothek in Germany, and Bibsys in Norway andDELNET and IFLIBNET union catalogue in India.However the advent of the Web has allowed librariesto extend this original vision in new ways.

Extending these services beyond traditional librarycollections is well illustrated by the National Library ofAustralia’s (NLA) Trove. It has used the Web toaccomplish two tasks. This is done by first combiningthe collections of Australian libraries with otherimportant Australian and international collections andinformation sources such a Wikipedia and secondly toopen much of this content so the public can tag it, editit, collect it and review it.

The explosion of digitization projects in the last decadehas driven this gathering of information in newdirections with examples in addition to NLA’s Trove toothers like the Hathi Trust, OAISTER and Europeana.The Hathi trust is building a repository of digitized booksand journals from major research libraries in the UnitedStates. OAISTER is a service started by the Universityof Michigan and now managed by OCLC which seeksto harvest all the major digital repositories around theworld.

Europeana is gathering the digitized collections fromEurope’s galleries, libraries, archives and museums.What makes these aggregations and others like themimportant is their intent to allow their content to bemashed up into other services and re-used. Otherbenefits growing from massively aggregated data aboutcollections is the ability to aggregate user opinion anduse. LibraryThing is a good example of being able tobuild recommender services based on the aggregationof what thousands of people hold in their personallibraries.

CLOUD COMPUTING IN INDIAN LIBRARIESAs on date though cloud computing is not common inIndian libraries, however isolated attempts have beenmade by the some of the Government autonomousbodies and some Government organizations to provideService and Application based cloud computing modelsbeing used by Indian libraries.

CVRS service of INFLIBNETSimilar to OCLC’s Question Point virtual referenceservice where single library’s ability to assist patron’sis expanded beyond the constraint of its own walls andhours of operation to become a true cloud service,INFLIBNET also started Collaborative VirtualReference Services (CVRS) for academic communityin colleges and universities. The users in colleges anduniversities (or even general public) would be free topost their questions on the CVRS website. Thequestions on CVRS would be grouped into a numberof subject categories, and user would be required tochoose his subject category before posting hisquestion. Answer to the questions would be availablefrom CVRS website by the volunteering librarians.Libraries may specify the field of specialisation on whichthey would like to answer the questions. Needless tosay that the success of the service would depend onthe volunteering librarians and promptness with whichthey answer the questions.6

This model is an Application based cloud computingmodel where application software is available throughweb browser for participating libraries and users aswell.

Sodhganga/Shodh GangotriThe Shodhganga@INFLIBNET Centre provides aplatform for research students to deposit their Ph.D.theses and make it available to the entire scholarlycommunity in open access. The repository has theability to capture, index, store, disseminate andpreserve ETDs submitted by the researchers.6 In thisService the cloud computing model available is acombination of Infrastructure (storage space) and theApplication.

Great benefit of data stored in the Sodh Ganga cloudis the opportunity for collaboration and cooperation.Participating libraries are sharing pools of data for co-operative collection building, cooperative preservationor digitization, cooperative sharing of materials, etc.And with massively aggregated data new services canbe created based on a broad base of usage data.

Open Journal Access System (OJAS)This service of INFLIBNET provides a commonapplication and infrastructure for hosting the openaccess journals by the Indian academic institutions.The platform enables the libraries to access, preserveand digitize the contents without maintaining the serversat the local level.

Union Catalogue of INFLIBNET/DELNETIndCat: Online Union Catalogue of Indian Universities isunified Online Library Catalogues of books, theses andjournals available in major university libraries in India.The union database contains bibliographic description,location and holdings information for books, journalsand theses in all subject areas available in more than


148 university libraries across the country. A Web-based interface is designed to provide easy access tothe merged catalogues. The IndCat is a major sourceof bibliographic information that can be used for inter-library loan, collections development as well as for copycataloguing and retro-conversion of bibliographicrecords. The IndCat consists three componentsavailable in open access to users and librarians.6 Inthe present form the users cannot use it as a platformas they cannot upload their data themselves hencethe service is available as infrastructure only.

Delnet maintains an online union catalogue of booksavailable with its Member-Libraries. The unioncatalogue is continuously updated and is growing insize. It can be accessed by author, title, subject,conference, series, etc. and also Boolean Operatorscan be used. It contains about 1,19,59,184 bibliographicrecords at present. Inter-library loan requests for booksare placed online. Requests are also received throughe-mail.7 This can be used as application as users canupload data from their workplace.

Digital Library of IndiaThe primary long-term objective is to capture all booksin digital format. It is believed that such a task isimpossible and could take hundreds of years, and neverbe completed. Thus, as a first step it is planned todemonstrate the feasibility by undertaking to digitize 1million books (less than 1% of all books in all languagesever published) by 2005. It is believed that such aproject has the potential to change how education isconducted in much of the world.

A secondary objective of this project will be to providea test bed that will support other researchers who areworking on improved scanning techniques, improved

optical character recognition, and improved indexing.The corpus this project creates will be one to threeorders of magnitude larger than any existing freeresource.8

National Mission on Education throughICT (NMEICT), Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment (MHRD), Government of India, LibraryAutomation & Resource Sharing Network project.

The project will involve Koha, a free and opensource Integrated Library System (ILS) as a tool to:

Create a Union Catalogue on Sakshat server atIGNOU Campus


Automate individual libraries all over the country.

The immediate outcome of the project(deliverable) is that this will be extended in themain project to cover at national level.

Training of Librarians in library automation usingopen source application Koha and facilitatingthem in uploading bibliographic data on

centralized database hosted on Sakshat portal.

Integration of existing bibliographic database ofcollege, university and institute libraries who havealready automated their library activities usingdifferent automation packages.9

The above examples of clouds in Indian scenario canbe grouped as under:

Type What it is Examples

Infrastructure Buying space / time on external servers INDCAT, DIGITAL LIBRARY OF INDIA

Platform An existing software platform to build your LIBRARY BLOGS AND COMMUNITIESown applications on ON FACEBOOK

Applications Software applications accessed with a SODHGANGA UNION CATALOGUE OFWebbrowser DELNETNMEICT PROJECT OJAS

Services Ready to use services accessed with a CVRSWebbrowser

REFERENCES1. Maff Goldner Winds of change: Libraries and cloud

computing BCLA Browser: Linking the LibraryLandscape Volume 4, no. 1 (2012 ).

2. Association for computing machinery(ACM),(2009),”CloudComputing:An overview”, http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm7searchtemFcloud+computing+&id=1554608.

3. Gartner Group: http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1035013.

4. Marios D. Dikaiakos, George Pallis, DimitriosKatsaros, Pankaj Mehra,Athena Vakali, “Cloud

computing : Distributed Internet Computing for IT andScientific Research”, IEEE Internet Computing,Published by the IEEE Computer Society, September/October 2009.

5. National Institute of Standards and Technology -Computer Security Resource Center -www.csrc.nist.gov.

6. http://www.inflibnet.ac.in.

7. http://www.delnet.nic.in.

8. http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/.

9. http://www.koha.ignouonline.ac.in.

application of cloud computing in librarties :an indian scenario

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