Chapter 1

Introduction

All known cultures of the past - Egyptian, Babylonian, Jewish, Greek,

Indus-valley etc. have their own equally glorious and useful systems of health

care. In India. the development and growth of such a body of knowledge

known as Ayurveda. meaning science of life. was coeval with the growth and

evoiution of indian civilization and culture. The Vedas, which are considered

to be the repositories of recorded indian cuiture, have made mention of this

knowledge both in the theoretical and practical form. There is discussion of

theories about the composition of iiving and non-living matter, the physical,

biochemicai, bioiogicai, .psychoiogicai and spirituai components of man and

the vitai motive forces working both inside and outside the body. in other

ancient work:s :such a:s Cliaraka Samliiia, Susfiruia Samliiia etc. there are

rneniion of :such cuffeni medical :subject:s like anatomy, phy:siology, aetiology,

pathology, treatrnent and environmental factors. This medical knowledge has

been the work of ages. It is the outcome of the great power of observation,

generalization and analysis combined with the patient labour of hundreds of

investigators spread over thousands of years. This knowledge has played so

important a in tha development of Indian culture that it has bean

documented in an integrated form in the Vedas v.hich are considered to have

been originated from Gods 1. The ancient Ayurveda was closely related to

astrology. Judy Pugh of the university of British Columbia detects three

separate arts in Indian astrology: the art of dialogue. the art of prediction and

the art of remedy.2 The basis of the ancient Ayurveda can be found in some of

the astrological texts like Maharishi Parasara's Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra. 3

Most of this mythological and medico-religious genesis of Ayurveda is even

.today shrouded in the mist of antiquity.

Around 1500 B.C. Ayurveda's fundamentals and applied principles got

organised and enunciated. Atharvaveda, one of the four most ancient books of

Indian knowledge. wisdom and culture. contains 114hymns or formulations for

the treatment of diseases. In this sense Ayurveda is considered to have divine

origin representing one of the oidest organized system of medicine for positive

heaith and cure of human sickness. Making use of systematic careful

observation and documenting detailed experiences over the past several

thousands of years, it has grown into a very comprehensive health care

system with two major school and eight specializations, it has a Schooi of

Physicians and a Schoo; of Surgeons referred in iiterature as 'Atreya

Sampradaya' and'Dharivaritfiar; Sampradaya' fespectively. <4

The most important and massive ancient compilation of the Schools of

medicine is known as Charaka Samhita. It contains several chapters dealing at

length with therapeutic or internal medicine. About 600 drugs of plant. animal

and mineral origin are described in it. Besides. this compendium also deals

with other branches of Ayurveda like anatomy, physiology, aetiology,

prognosis, pathology, treatment and medicine etc. 6

An equally exhaustive ancient compilation, Sushruta Samhita exists

relating to the school of surgery. It deals primarily with various fundamental

principles and theory of surgery. more than 100 kinds of surgical instruments

including scalpels. scissors. forceps, specula etc. are described along with

their use in this vaiuabie document. Descriptions of how to go about doing

incIsion, excision, extraction, and bandaging etc. are detailed in this

'compendium. in addition, this document aiso mentions such other topics as

anatomy, embryoiogy, toxicoiogy and therapeutics. it has made a mention of

about 650 drugs. 6

In course of time Ayurveda, which started as a magico-religious practice,

matured into a fully developed medical science with eight branches which

have parallels in the modern western system of medicine. The growth of these

eight specialities gave Ayurveda another name: Astanga Ayurveda. Medical

knowiedge was divided into the following eight branches:

1. Kayachikitsa - Internal medicine

2. Kaumarabhritya - Paediatrics

3. Grahachikitsa - Psychiatry

4. Sa/akyatantra - Opthalmology

5. Saiyatantra - Surgery

6. Visatantra - Toxicology

7. Rasayanatantra - Geriatrics

8. Vajikaranatantra - Knowiedge of Viriifics7

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Ayurveda deals elaborately with measures for a healthy living during the

entire span of life and its various phases. Besides dealing with principles for

the maintenance of health. it has also developed a wide range of therapeutic,

measu res to combat illness. These principles of positive health and

therapeutic measures are reiated to the physicai, mentai, sociai, and spirituai

weifare of human beings. Thus Ayurveda becomes one of the oidest systems

of medicine deaiing with both the preventive and curative aspects of life in a

most comprehensive way.

'1.1 Re!evance of the study

The development of a National Information system is essential for the

further development of Ayurveda in India. When compared to other major

systems of medicine like Allopathy, Homeopathy etc .. at present Ayurveda is

not getting due recognition as a system of medicine. Acupuncture. a part of

Chinese indigenous medicine, couid acquire woridwide recognition. But stili

Ayu rveda, one of the major medicai systems with thousands of years of history

and the one which has proved as a harmiess and effective medicai system has

not yet got woridwide recognition and it is stiii practiced oniy in india and

some other Asian countries. Even in india Ayurveda is losing its prominence.

Among the various factors for this situation, a major reason is the lack of

sufficient J'eseaJ'ch and pJ'opeJ' cornmunication arnong the expeits in this field.

Even the study and research activities taking piace in ti-,e various parts of the

country are not properly coordinated. They are carried out in isolation. There

is no effective scientific communication in this field. Not much bibliographic

6) 32654

activities are carried out in this field. The development of a National

Information System has a major role in solving these problerms. In Ayurveda

many valuable documents are kept as closed documents by a number of.

persons, families and organisations. Many of the ancient documents are kept

unused in the various manuscript iibraries and in personai and famiiy

coiiections, especiaiiy in the traditional "Vaidya families~ of Kemia and other

'parts of. india. For the overaii deveiopment of Ayurveda these ancient

compiiations shouid be identified, properly documented and made avaiiabie to

aii the practitioners and researchers in this fieid. A Nationai information

Agency with sufficient government back.ing can unearth many of these

v<:iiu<:ibie lie<:iSuies.

Nowadays western countries are showing interest in herbal and indigenous

medicine. The multinational companies are involved in patenting these

information collected from third world countries. From India a lot of information

is flowing out in this way. An effective National Information system can play

an important roie to check this loss.

There are many claims for the Ayurvedic remedies for the dreaded

diseases like AIDS. cancer etc. But most of these claims are ignored or not

properly attended in our country. A National Information System can help to

put forward such claims effectively and to communicate the study results

properiy. Thus in many ways a National Information System can -piay a key

roie in the deveiopment of Ayurveda. So any effort to design and

a system is most reievant now.

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1.2 Tit!e of the study

The title of the study is "Design and development of Indian National

Information System for Ayurveda".

1.3 Definition of the key terms

Most of the terms in the title are self-explanatory. The terms which are not

self-explanatory and those whose usage in particular contexts are to be

specified are defined below.

National Information System: An information system is defined as 'an

organised procedure for collecting, processing, storing, and retrieving

information to satisfy a variety of needs'. 9 When the activities of an

information system is restricted to the jurisdiction of a nation it becomes a

national information system. Here in this study ali the above-said activities of

the information system are designed in the context of the nation India.

Ayurveda: The word 'Ayurveda' is composed of two Sanskrit terms viz. 'ayus'

meaning 'life' and 'Veda' meaning 'knowledge', and take~ together it means

the 'science of life'. It deals with the method of ke'eping the human body and

mind in a state of perfect health. Charaka has defined Ayurveda as the

'science through the help of which one can obtain knowledge about the useful

and harmful types of life, happy and miserable types of life, things which are

useful or harmfui for such types of life as well as the very nature of Iife,9. Thus

6

more than a medical system Ayurveda is considered as a 'way of life'. But

here in this study the term Ayurveda refers to the ancient system of medicine

which is still practised in India.

1.4

The objectives of the study are:

i. To study the infrastructure available in libraries and information

centres attached to the various Ayurveda institutions in India.

ii. To study the information needs of the various categories of users in

Ayurveda such as qualified and conventional practitioners.

scientists. teachers and students;

iii. To assess whether the present information infrastructure available

in Ayurveda is adequate to satisfy the needs of the users or not:

and

iv. Based on the assessment made on the above objectives designing

a National Information System for Ayurveda. which will satisfy the

needs of the information users in Ayurveda.

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1.5 Methodology

The following methodologies were used in the study for data collection.

1. Literature survey

The history and basic principles of Ayurveda and other Indian systems of

medicine were studied mainly through literature survey.

The present status of Ayurveda and other Indian systems of medicine in

India. data relating to the number of medical personnel. research centres.

hospitals. educational institutions etc. were studied mainly using secondary

data collected from the publications of the planning and evaluation cell under

the ministry of heaith and family weifare, Government of india. The

background studies regarding the various information systems and iibrary and

information networks were aiso made through iiterature survey.

2. Questionnaire method

The library and other information infrastructure available in various

Ayurveda institutions were studied mainly through the questionnaire method.

Data collected from CCRAS and its various subsidiary research institutions

including 2 Indian Institutes of Ayurveda, 3 Central Research Institutes.5

Regionai Research institutes, 5 Regional Research Centres and 12 Research

Units. Data from ; 0 representative sampies of other state levei and private

research centres were also collected. Apart from these, data were collected

from National Institute of Ayurveda. Pharmacopoeia laboratory. Gujarat

Ayurveda University. Department of Medical Sciences of Banarus Hindu

University and 72 Ayurveda colleges.

The information needs of the various categories of the Ayurveda users

from different regions of the country were selected and questionnaires---- ---distributed to 83 scientists, 97 teachers, 91 doctors, 96 conventional

practitioners and 89 students. Sixty seven (80.72%) scientists, 74 (76.28"/0)

teachers, 71 (78.82%) doctors, 61 (63.54%) conventional practitioners and 76

(85.39%) students returned the fiiied up questionnaires.

3. Interview method

The data collected though questionnaires were corroborated by the

information collected through the interview method. 145 persons who

responded through questionnaire were also interviewed to get more

information as well as clarifications. These constitute 20 librarians, 23

doctors, 28 conventionai practitioners, 27 scientists, 30 teachers and 17

students. Interviews were unstructured in nature. in interviews with the

iibrarians the problems faced by them in information coliection, storage and

dissemination in iibraries were discussed. in interviews with the users the

probiems faceid by them in getting information at the right time, their opinion

about the services provided by Ayurveda libraries and the new services

expected f!or"ri iible:trie:s e:tr"ld ifIe probler"f):S fe:tced by ihe Ayulvede:t r"nedice:ti

Q

system in general were discussed. The opinions of the librarians and users

regarding the structure and functions of the National Information System in

Ayurveda were also discussed in detail. Since the dissemination of information

in Ayurveda through publications are lesser in number and scattered in various

languages, the information coiiected through this method was very usefuL

The data collected though various methods were analysed to study the

strong and weaker points of the present set-up. The information needs of the

various categories of users were studied. Based on these inferences a new

National Information System for Ayurveda, which satisfies the needs of the

various categories of Ayurveda users and one which heips the all-round

deveiopment of the Ayurvedic medicai system, is designed.

1_6 Hypotheses

The hypotheses leading to the present study are:

1. The present information infrastructure available in Ayurveda in India is

not satisfactory and is inadequate to meet the information needs of

the users.

2. The present institutional and information infrastructure are not

coordinated and organized which call for the design of a national

information system for an effective and efficient information service in

Ayurveda in India.

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1.7 Scope of the study

The study involves the designing of the National information system for

Ayurveda. The various levels of organisations of the system. its infrastructure.

manpower and the functions to be carried out are to be defined. For this the

existing infrastructure avaiiabie in India, the information needs of the various

'Ayurvedic personnel including scientists, teachers, students and practitioners,

the present mode of communication and transfer of information among

themseives etc. are to be studied. A iot oj injormation reiating to Ayurveda

stiii remains unpublished and undocumented, a major share being in the form

of manuscripts. So ail these aspects are to be considered while designing a

National information System for Ayurveda. As the study 15 on an ali-india

basis it involves extensive sUiveys to study the existing infrasifuctuJ'e

available in the country, information needs of the personnel involved in this

field, various sources in which Ayurveda literature is scattered etc. Based on

these sUivey iesults the lnfoimation System is to be designed.

1.8 Limitations of the study

Even if the study focuses all of India; it is not desirable to cover all the

institutions and all information users in Ayurveda. So representative samples

were taken and studied. In case of research centres all the major research

centres in India are covered, but in case of Ayurveda colleges only about 50%

of the institutions were covered. In the case of information users in Ayurveda

aiso, data were coilected from representative samples.

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The publications in Ayurveda are comparatively lesser, multilingual and

scattered. So in many cases interviews with the experts were also undertaken

to reach a conclusion.

The study proposes only the design of an Indian National Information

System for Ayurveda. The various levels of organization in the system and the

,functions of each of these sUbsystems are defined but the financial

implications in the development of each sUbsystem are not worked out.

1.9 Organization of the thesis

The thesis is organized under 9 chapters. They are:

Chapter 1: Introduction

The title, objective, scope, relevance, methodology, limitations etc of the

stUdy are discussed mainly in this chapter.

Chapter 2: Review of related literature

Similar studies already conducted in the related fields are reviewed here.

Chapter 3: Ayurveda and other Indian systems of medicine: Genesis and

development

1?

The genesis, development and the basic principles of Ayurveda are

discussed in detail in this chapter. The history and basic principles of other

Indian systems of medicine are also explained briefly in this chapter.

Chanter 4: Institutional infrastructure of Avurveda and other Indian. .systems of medicine

This chapter gives a statistical account of various Ayurvedic institutions

engaged in research. education. treatment etc. A detailed description of the

nature of Ayurveda research is also given. A brief statistical data relating to

other Indian systems of medicine is also provided in this chapter.

Chapter 5: Related National and International Information systems and

Library networks

In this chapter various library and information systems and networks

related to Ayurveda such as medical and biological subjects at the national

and international level are discussed. Various information systems. library

networks and other communication infrastructure available in India are

expiained in detaii.

Chapter 6: Present information infrastructure available for Ayurveda in

India

The data collected through questionnaires and interviews about the

present library and other information system infrastructure available in our

country are analysed and interpreted here. An evaluation of the present

information infrastructure is made and the drawbacks of the present system

are iisted .

.Chapter 7: Information needs and information seeking behaviour of

Ayurvedic information users

The data collected on the information needs and information use pattern of

the various categories of information users such as researchers. teachers.

students and practitioners in the field of Ayurveda are analysed and

interpreted here. A comparative study of the information needs and

information seeking behaviour of different types of users is aiso made in this

chapter.

Chanter 8: Indian National Information Svstem for Avurveda (INISA):. .,., \ ,

Design, Structure and Functions.

Here the information collected, analysed and interpreted in the previous

chapters are used for the design and development of an Indian National

Information System for Ayurveda (INISA) which would satisfy the Information

needs of the information users in the field of Ayurveda. The various levels of

organisation of the proposed information system, structure and functions of

each of these ieveis or subsystems etc. are provided here.

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Chaoter 9: Findinas and conclusion. ~

In this chapter the findings of the entire study are summed up and

conclusions are drawn.

Appendix I

Questionnaire used for the collection of data from libraries attached

to various types of Ayurveda institutions.

Appendix \I

Questionnaire used for the collection of data from

1. researchers and teachers

2. qualified practitioners

3. conventional practitioners

4. students.

Bibliography

Provides a list of related articles and books in Library and Information

Science as well as Ayurveda.

1,

References

1. India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department of ISM and,

Homeopathy. Indian Systems of Medicine Clnd Homeopathy in India 1992.

Delhi: Controller of publications. 1996. p. 1.

'2. Svoboda, Robert E. Ayurveda: Life, health and longevity. New Delhi:

Penguin books. 1993. p. 175.

3. Tarabilda, Edward F. Ayurveda Revolutionized. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass

publishers. 1998. p. 60.

4. India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department of ISM and

Homeopathy. Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy in India. op.cit ..

pp.1-2.

5. Ibid, p. 2,.

6. Ibid, p. 2.

7. Ibid, pp. 2-3.

8. Harrod, L. M. Harrod's librarians glossary: 9000 terms used in

information management. library science. publishing. the book trades and

archive management. 8th ed. compo By Ray Prytherch. Hants: Gower, 1995.

I';

9. Bhagwan Dash. Fundamentals of Ayurvedic medicine. Delhi: Bansal & Co.

1980. p2.

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