Restricted Terminal Report UNDP/SRL778/030 SRI LANKA

Establishment of a Centre for Development Information

Project Findings and Recommendations

WCHiytf

Serial No. FMR/PGI/OPS/83/283 (UNDP)

United Nations United Nations Educational, Scientific Development and Cultural Organization Programme

Paris, 1983

S R I L' A ï K A

Establishment of a Centre for Development Information

Project Findings and Recommendations

Report Prepared for the Government of Sri Lanka by the United Hâtions Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) acting as Executing Agency for the United Nations Development Programme (UHDP)

United Hâtions Educational, United Hâtions Scientific and Cultural Development Organization Programme

Terminal Report ÜHBP/SEL/78/030 FME/PGI/OPS/83/283(DUDP) 29 December 1983

© Unesco 1983 Printed in France

TABLE OF CONTENTS'

Paragraphs

I. INTRODUCTION ( 1 _ 5)

Background 1 Official Arrangements 2 - 4 Objectives of the Project 5

II. PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND OUTPUTS ( 6 - 2 9 ) The Development of the Centre for Development Information's Library Facilities 7 - 13

Collaboration and Cooperation with National Centres for the Collation of Development Information 1 4 - 18

Collaboration and Cooperation with International Centres for the Collation of Development Information 19-23

Developing a Programme of Bibliographic Control 24-26

Strengthening and Training of the Staff 27-29

III. ACHIEVEMENT OF IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVES (30 )

IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS (31-35)

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A - List of Project Staff

APPENDIX B - List of Fellowships(198O - 1983)

APPENDIX C - List of Major Items of Equipment Purchased

APPENDIX D - Publications

APPENDIX E - Libraries Participating in the Union Catalogue of Economic and Social Development

APPENDIX F - Libraries and Information Centres Participating in the International Exchange Programme

SRl/78/030 - Establishment of a Centre for Development Information (CDl)

TERMINAL REPORT

I. INTRODUCTION

Background

1. The Centre for Development Information is the first attempt in Sri Lanka to establish an information system relevant to socio-economic development for the benefit of planners, policy makers and consultants both at macro and sectoral levels. The inauguration of the project was also partly a response to the ESCAP proposal for information systems and documentation services and coordination of Government information systems. The Government of Sri Lanka, having followed the initiative of several international agencies, including UNDP, ESCAP and Unesco, in striving to facilitate fuller international sharing of information on socio­economic development, considered it would be able to participate actively in an improved international system for information dissemination in this area by setting up the Centre for Development Information. The systématisation of information, collation, indexing, storage and retrieval envisaged for the Centre will meet an urgent need to reduce to a minimum the present wastage of information and resulting repetition of identical work both by local personnel and foreign experts who work unaware of the existence of prior related documents. The objective here is to optimise foreign as well as local expertise—time now excessively expended in prolonged search for information.

Official Arrangements

2. The Project Document establishing the Centre for Development Information was signed on 12 July 1979 by "the Government and on 13 July 1979 "by UNDP and Unesco, the latter acting as Executing Agency. The total UNDP contribution was foreseen as $ 233»850, which was reduced to US $ 192,634 in 1981 (Revision »P*) and further reduced to US 4 169,725 in August 1983 (Revision •I')» UÏTDP was to provide three internationally—recruited experts, one of whom would be the Senior Adviser to the Project, locally-recruited" support personnel, fellowships (to the amount of $ 46,000) and equipment (to the amount of % 51|550)»

3» The Government contribution was foreseen as SRL Rs. 473,250 (equivalent of US $ 16,386) and their Coordinating Agency was designated as the Ministry of Finance and Planning. The Government were to provide the counterpart staff on a full—time basis and make available premises and furniture for the Centre.

Objectives of the Project

5« The objectives, briefly summarised, are:

(a) Long-termt The long—term objective of the Project, in line with national goals^as to serve the purpose of coordinating, collating and speedily retrieving information relevant to development

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and development planning for national purposes as well as to provide non-classified information inputs to the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Ottowa^and to any other such centres, international and regional, and to those located in individual countries, on the basis of a mutual sharing of information.

(b) Immediate; To establish an organisation which will be a reposi­tory of development information, capable of coordinating, collat­ing and speedily retrieving such information from existing national and international sources.

To collaborate with existing national and international information and research centres, including universities, with a view to:

(a) Uniformity of indexing/classification methods/formats;

(b) Provision of common training inputs in information processing for operational personnel of related institutes;

(c) Facilitating a regular flow of authorised information inputs in receivable form into the IDRC (DEVSIS) when fully operational;

(d) Obtaining,as required, relevant cross-country and national data stored at these International Information Centres;

(e) Independently monitoring and indexing international development literature by the interchange of research material bibliographies, summaries and abstracts with similar worldwide institutions and more particularly with those in developing countries.

II. PROJECT ACTIVITIES M P OUTPUTS

6. The programme of work was drawn up to cover the following functional activities in order to achieve the more important objectives. Action was taken to implement those aspects which are important from the point of view of strengthening the flow and sharing of information between library and informa­tion centres. The functional activities which were identified and which were required to translate the above project objectives into practice are listed below:

(i) The development of the Centre for Development Information's library facilities;

(ii) The collaboration and cooperation with national and inter­national centres for the collation of development information;

(iii) The development of a programme of bibliographic control;

(iv) The strengthening and training of staff.

The Development of the Centre for Development Information's Library Facilities

7. The nucleus of the Centre's library consisted of the collection of the Ministry of Finance and Planning's library, which was later amalgamated with the library of the Development Planning Unit under the same Ministry, and

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the Management Services Division's library of the Ministry of Public Administra­tion. From the inception, the Centre's library has functioned as a depository library for DIT publications and is thereby entitled to receive copies of the publications put out by the DU and its agencies. An up-to-date collection of DIT publications is available for reference in the Centre's library. These collections were enriched and updated by purchases made out of project funds, exchange and gifts. At present, the Centre's library has a collection of 10,000 books and subscribes annually to over 100 local and foreign periodicals and to a few foreign newspapers. Besides this, a depository of Sri Lankan report literature on socio-economic development was established at the incep­tion and is currently being continued. The collection was the result of per­sonal visits to Government institutions to obtain material. Material not freely available has been photocopied and deposited at the Centre. Mission reports relating to socio-economic development have also been collected from foreign missions and international agencies.

8. This has enabled the users to have access to reports, studies and papers issued by various government departments and agencies in the field of socio-economic development which otherwise would not have been available for their reference as even their existence would not be generally known. This is one of the most significant achievements of the project.

9. The Government's provision of new accommodation was of considerable assistance in improving the Centre's library. A separate library and reading room and office were provided. The project provided the library equipment, including display racks, a card-copying machine, photocopying machine, cata­logue cabinets, several items of binding equipment, pamphlet boxes, etc.

10. Prior to the occupation of the new premises, the library was con­fined to a tiny room in the main Secretariat 'building where the facilities were utterly inadequate to provide additional shelving for a growing collection or even a proper reading and browsing area for the users. Library and informa­tion services were provided by one librarian.

11. Since the commencement of the project the collection and staff ser­vices have been greatly improved. This has resulted in an increase in the number of readers. During the course of the project library collections were reorganised by using standard library procedures. Separate sections were established for Sri Lanka, DIT publications, general monographs, periodicals, government publications, unpublished reports and theses. Literature is now classified according to the universal Decimal Classification System. Card catalogues are maintained separately for Sri Lanka and general collections. An effective loan system for the circulation of library material has been implemented. Although the use of library material is limited to registered members of the library, it is worth noting that the library offers its ser­vices to outside research scholars in the field of socio-economic development, who have been keen to avail themselves of this opportunity.

12. The Centre's library facilities have been well developed during the period of review and the Centre is now in a better position to serve the needs of planners, policy-makers and researchers in the socio-economic field.

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13. The library offers the following services to its members:

(a) Current Awareness : The accession list notifies the readers of new books. Summaries and reviews of recent publications are included in the 'Current Awareness Bulletin' issued monthly by the Centre. This Bulletin has been well received and the demand for it indicates that the contents have proved useful for up­dating knowledge. A 'Journal contents page service', incorpor­ating the facsimiles of the title pages of periodicals, is circulated among the concerned Ministry staff in order to increase the awareness of interested persons as expeditiously as possible. Articles in periodicals are indexed and issued in the quarterly publication 'Subject Guide to Current Periodical Literature'. It represents a systematic effort to scan for titles of articles of interest to users.

(b) Inquiry Services; The library also handles inquiries on socio­economic information and reading lists and bibliographies are compiled on request. The library provides ready reference at short notice to readers in their fields of interest.

(c) Inter-library Loan Service: If publications are not available in the collection they are borrowed from other libraries and information centres to satisfy readers' requests.

Collaboration and Cooperation with National Centres for the Collation of Development Information

14. An important aspect of the activities of the Centre for Development Information is its collaboration and cooperation with national and international centres for the exchange and coordination of information in the field of econ­omic and social development. For the effective exchange of information the Centre has established close contact with significant national centres, includ­ing universities and special libraries, and periodically reviews its activities in consultation with the representatives of these institutes.

15. A cooperative programme was launched to compile a Union Catalogue of Sconomic and Social Development Publications in Sri Lanka. The objectives of this project were:

(a) To construct a composite list of economic and social development publications available in Sri Lanka;

(b) To develop an awareness of the book stocks available;

(c) To develop an awareness of economic and social development literature generated in Sri Lanka;

(d) To promote and facilitate inter-library loan services;

(e) To improve and modify book acquisition policies.

16. Under this project two publications have been issued with the co­operation of participating libraries. (A list of the participating libraries is given in Appendix S.) The first issues of the Union Catalogue and Union List of Periodicals in the field of economic and social development were pub­lished in I98O and 1982 respectively.

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17. UUTDEV: The Union Catalogue of Economic and Social Development (UNTDEV) is a half yearly publication which consolidates the economic and social development literature holdings of the major libraries in Sri Lanka and has been issued periodically to date. The Union List of Economic and Social Development "Periodicals incorporates the holdings of 38 libraries. This publication is expected to be up-dated at regular intervals. Both these publications will be of great use as efficient tools of library cooperation in Sri Lanka,thus promoting and facilitating inter-library loans, preventing unnecessary duplication of acquisitions and economising on foreign exchange expenditure by improving and rationalising acquisition policies.

18. The Union Catalogue is housed at the Centre's library and the Centre is acting as a coordinating body for information services based on the Union Catalogue.

Collaboration and Cooperation with International Centres for the Collation of Development Information

19. An attempt has been made to establish an effective exchange programme with the related institutions in the field of economic and social development, not only in the region but also in other parts of the world. The purpose of this programme is to collect relevant material and to disseminate development information. At present there' are thirty institutions participating in the programme. A complete list of participating institutions is given in Appendix P. Among them are the Library of Congress, the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, IDEC,Canada, the Institute of Developing Economies, Japan, the Philippines Social Science .Council, etc. Exchange agreements were concluded with these institutions to receive on a regular basis the published material put out by these research-oriented information centres. In implementing the programme, special attention was paid ;fco promote the exchange of information with counterpart institutions in South Asian countries, namely India,' Pakistan and Bangladesh. For this purpose a special mission was undertaken by the Information and Documentation Assistant in 1983.

20. The Centre is also participating in DEVSIS (Development Sciences Information System) operated by the IDRC and acts as one of the national coordinating centres for the project. The Centre regularly provides Sri Lankan information inputs for DEVSIS and receives the printed output DEYINDEX which represents the global literature pertaining to development sciences.

21. Contact has been established with international organisations pos­sessing data bases pertaining to Sri Lanka such as the United Nations Informa­tion System, the World. Bank, OECD, ILO, etc, by sending them abstracts,-bulletins and copies of relevant publications.

22. The Centre is also participating in the OECD Macrothesaurus manage­ment project operated by the United Nations Information System and has provided proposals for new descriptors to be considered for inclusion in the new edition.

23. The Centre for Development Information has participated in the pre­liminary meetings related to the establishment of a South Asian Information System in the field of economic and social development.

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Developing a Programme of Bibliographic Control

24. Although a considerable volume of material relating to development information is available within the country, this body of information lies scattered and is not easily accessible to the planners, policy-makers, admin­istrators and research workers. This situation has led to a paucity of requisite information for decision-making and to the duplication of research effort. To bridge the gap between the generators of information and future users, it is necessary to plan an information retrieval system that can readily tap the useful resources available in the country. Compilation of a compre­hensive bibliography on economic and social development in Sri Lanka is one of the significant activities undertaken by the Centre. The first volume, cover­ing mostly unpublished material, was published in 1982. It represents the first attempt to gain bibliographic control of published and unpublished liter­ature in the field of economic and social development in Sri Lanka. This volume contains 600 entries in the subject fields of economics, education, agriculture, industry, trade, transport, management, labour, demography and environment. The bibliography provides information on reports and research literature most of which is normally inaccessible, emanating from Government departments, statutory corporations, research bodies and international agencies. It consists basically of report literature, articles in journals, unpublished reports, theses, treatises, statistical digests and reports from international and private agencies.

25. The bibliography is arranged according to the 19 subject divisions of the OECD Macrothesaurus of information processing in the field of economic and social development. The analysis for the compilation of the annotations was by use of descriptors. A subject descriptor index and author index are included for easy reference. This is the first large-scale bibliographic assignment undertaken by the Centre.

26. The Register of Recent and Ongoing Research in Economic and Social Development in Sri Lanka, which was also released in 1982, is the first of its kind listing unpublished research attempted in Sri Lanka. This publication covers both ongoing and recently completed research with a synopsis. Entries are grouped under subject descriptors of the OECD Macrothesaurus. Author, subject and institution indexes are provided. It is expected to update both these publications annually. Unawareness of existing information on economic and social development has resulted in unwarranted duplication of effort and misallocation of funds and expertise. These publications seek to help to reverse this trend.

Strengthening and Training of the Staff

27. The Centre for Development Information staff consists of:

Government tflTDP/Unesco Staff

Director Information and Documentation Officer . (1)

Deputy Director (l)

Documentation Officer (3) . Information and Documentation Assistant (l)

Librarians (2)

Development Officer (l)

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28. The project funds were utilised to impart training in the field of documentation and information sciences to the professional staff. The details of the fellowships are given in Appendix B. One of the Documentation Officers followed a full-time academic course in information science at the University of the Philippines which covers theoretical and practical aspects of information handling. As practical in—service training was considered desirable, the training programme selected for the other two Documentation Officers and Librarians included this component by way of attachments to libraries and information centres, with a short course in information storage and retrieval systems at the 3 mall Industries Extension Training (SIET) Institute, Hyderabad. Accordingly, they were provided with attachments to the National Library, Singapore, the National Library, Malaysia, the ESCAP Library and the Asian Institute of Technology. The Deputy Director followed a one-month advanced information training course in Austria and thereafter undertook a study tour programme at the IDRC, Canada, and Unesco, Paris. The training programmes provided opportunities for the staff to gain knowledge in the new trends and developments in their fields which could be utilized to perform their duties effectively.

29* In addition, the Information and Documentation Assistant(UNDP/Unesco) was awarded a travel grant to proceed on a study tour to related institutions in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh which resulted in the exchange of information with these institutions and also in the exchange of publications. In—service training in the field of librarianship was also provided for four locally—recruited library trainees. They were instructed to carry out work assigned to them in the library and were paid a reasonable monthly allowance« This training has helped them to gain practical knowledge and to obtain permanent placements in other libraries.

III. ACHIEVEMENT OF IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVES

30. The Centre for Development Information, which originated from a library confined to a small room in the Ministry of Finance and Planning, has now attained the .status of a national centre for the coordinating, collating and retrieving of socio-economic information. The Centre is now very much better organised and better placed to offer its services not only to the staff attached to the Ministry but also toa wider range of readers who require information in the socio-economic development area for their research work or for any studies which they have to do. It is worth noting that these results have been achieved with purely supply and other staff inputs from UNDP, but without any expatriate consultancy.

IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

31« Developments in information and communication technology have given rise to new possibilities in the field of information transfer, including data base operations. In order to enable the Centre for Development Information to keep pace with the rapid progress in this field a certain flexibility in its methods of work should be maintained, so that it can meet the emerging needs of the information explosion. This will necessitate certain adjustments being carried out on a phased basis.

32. The ESCAP Information Systems mission which visited Sri Lanka from 18 to 20 April I983 stated in their report the need to computerise the information at the Centre for Development Information. Therefore, as a second phase of project activities, computerisation of information is highly recommended. In the first stage, this could be applied to the preparation of the Union Catalogue of Economic and Social Development Publications which is compiled manually at present. These publications cover the holdings of 38 libraries and the inputs by the participating institutions are increasing every month. As the coverage is extensive, it will become increasingly difficult to manage this programme on a manual basis. This matter should, therefore, be given priority in the further development of services provided by the Centre for Development Information.

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33« The system could be designed utilizing microcomputer technology whiGh is not unduly expensive. The basic requirement would be to input items to a small data base from which simple output products could be derived or, otherwise, facilities could be provided to have on-line access to an IBM mainframe computer, such as the one at the Central Bank (referred to in ESCAP's mission report), utilizing a suitable software package also capable of being modified for other uses.

34« The possibility of either multilateral or bilateral assistance towards meeting the computerization requirement should be further explored. Por this purpose, a well-defined policy should be adopted. This would necessitate a decision being taken on such matters as whether to use on—line access to the mainframe or utilize micro­computers, etc.

35» While seeking international assistance for computerization, simultaneous efforts should be made to promote development at the national level in the following fields:

(i) User services, in the form of a reference service, compilation of bibliographies on specific sectors, a Selected Dissemination of Information (SDl) Service, etc.

(ii) Infrastructure for further development of manpower, library collection and materials.

(iii) Inter—library cooperation within the country.

(iv) Regional and international cooperation with other institutions providing similar services.

t)

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APPENDIX A

List of Project Staff

líame Designation Duration of Contract From: To:

(a) Government Staff

ÎTAÎTAYAKKABA, tf.S.

KAEUHANAYAKS, C.I.

PEEEEA, P.A.S.

MAHAWEWA, S.

DE SILVA, T.H.

HENDAWITHAEAUA, I.

MEHDIS, I.

JAYAÏEERA, J.

Director

Deputy Director

Documentation Officer

Documentation Officer

Documentation Officer

Librarian Grade I

Librarian Grade II

Development Officer

(b) UNDP/Unesco Staff

MMDIS, L .N .T .

SIMATAMBY, S.

v Information and Documen­tation Officer .

Information and Documen­tation Assistant

Name

PERERA, P.A.S. Documentation Officer

MAHAWEM, S.

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APPENDIX B

List of Fellowships 198O - 1983

Course

Science Information Specialists for South Asia

Information Storage and Retrieval Systems Course

Training in Documenta­tion and Librarianship

Place of Study-

University of the Philippines

SIET Institute Hyderabad, India

Malaysian National Library; Singapore National Library

Duration

I98O-I98I

I98I October-December

DE s:iLm, Y.H. Documentation Officer

KARUNANAYAKE, C.I.

SINNATAMBY, S. Information Documentation Assistant (Unesco)

MENDIS, I. Librarian Grade II

UNISIST/FID/IFLA Inter­national Course in Advanced Information Work

Study Tours Training

Study Tour

Training in Librarian-ship and Documentation

HENDA.VITHARANA, I. Librarian Grade I

JAYAWEERA, J. Development Officer

Information Storage and Retrieval Systems

Training in Librarian-ship and Documentation

Training in Librarian-ship and Information

Austria

Canada, IDRC; Paris, Unesco

Indiaj Pakistan; Bangladesh

Malaysian National Library; Singapore National Library

ESCAP Library and AIT Library, Bangkok

SIET Institute, Hyderabad

Malaysian National Library

Singapore National Library; Asian Mass Commun­ication Research and Information Centre

1983 May-June

1983 June

1983 February-March

1983 July-September

1983 October-December

1983 October

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APPENDIX C

List of Major Items of Equipment Purchased

Mitshubishi Lancer Station Wagon

Air Conditioner (6)

Photocopying Machine

Offset Printing Machine

IBM Electric Typewriter (2)

Cutter (2)

Labelling Machine

Book Press

Book Craft Kit

Display Rack (3)

Book Supports

Pamphlet Boxes

Book Cards

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APPENDIX D

Publications

Bibliography of Economic and Social Development of Sri Lanka 1975 - 1980} Vol. I - 1982 XXYIII, 291 p.

Register of Recent and Ongoing Research in Economic and Social Development in Sri Lanka; 1982, 40p.

UNDEV Union Catalogue of Economic and Social Development in Sri Lanka;

Vol. I - August/December I98O Vol. II - Ho. 1, January/July I98I Vol. II - August/December 198I Vol. Ill - No. 1, January/June 1982.

Union List of Economic and Social Development Periodicals in Sri Lanka; 1982.

Journal Content Page Service (Reproduction of content pages of periodicals) - Monthly.

Current Awareness: Reviews of recent publications on economic and social development - Monthly.

New Acquisitions - Quarterly.

Subject Guide to Current Periodical Literature in Economic and Social Development - Quarterly.

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• APPENDIX S

Libraries Participating in the Union Catalogue of Economic and Social Development

Agrarian Research and Training Institute Library

Bandaranaike Memorial International Centre Library-

Ceylon Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research Library

Department of Commerce Library

Department of Census and Statistics Library

Department of Labour Library

Export Development Board Library

Industrial Development Board Library

Marga Institute Library

national Institute of Business Management Library

national Museum Library

Sri Lanka Scientific and Technical Information Centre

natural Resources and Energy Authority, Sri Lanka

People's Bank Library

Ruhunu University College Library

Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration Library

Trade Information Services, Department of Commerce

University of Colombo Library

University of Jaffna Library

University of Moratuw-a

University of Kelaniya

University of Peradeniya

University of Sri Jayawardenapura

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APPMDIX F

Libraries and Information Centres Participating in the International Exchange Programme

Pakistan Institute of Developing Economies, Islamabad, Pakistan

Technology Resource Centre, Philippines

Library of Congress, Washington, USA

Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Dacca, Bangladesh

German Foundation for International Development, Bonn, West Germany

Research Centre for Cooperation with Development Centres, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia

Uational Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad, India

Social Science Documentation Centre, Hew Delhi, India

Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, united Kingdom

Third World Resource Centre, Toronto, Canada

Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, United Kingdom

Centre of South-east Asian Studies, Kyoto University, Japan

South Asia Studies Centre, University of Rajasthan, India

Clearing House on Development Communication, Washington, USA

Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum, India

Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences (INTON) Moscow, USSR

International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada

Institute of Developing Economies, Tokyo, Japan

United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America, Santiago, Chile

Documentation Information Centre, League of Arab States

World Resource Institute, Washington, USA

International Centre for Public Enterprise, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia

Philippines Social Science Council, Philippines

national Library of Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria

Institute of Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, India

Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi, India

Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi, India

National Informatics Centre, New Delhi, India

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APPENDIX F (contd.)

Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia, Comila, Bangladesh.

Institute for Alternative Development Research, Oslo, Norway

National Library of India, Calcutta, India