DESIGNG SUBJECT GATEWAY ON OPEN SOURCE LITERATURE IN SOCIAL SCIENCE: A PROTOTYPE MODEL

Introduction
Knowledge has become the driving force in enhancing the economic and social standards of living globally. Information is main ingredient of the knowledge, has significant impact in the knowledge society. It is the foremost responsibility of the educational organizations in establishing and supporting information system particularly the libraries in delivering right information at the right time. Information is a dynamic and unending resource that affects all disciplines and all walks of life. Information supports education, research and development. Drastic developments in the fields of publishing, communication, information storage and dissemination have made the role of libraries and librarians inevitable in knowledge society. It is need of the hour to identify more ways and means in developing quality information environment that makes new avenues of research in Library and Information Science (LIS).
Concept of Portals / Gateways

The web is being a hypermedia- based system; allow linking amongst electronic resources stored on servers dispersed geographically on distant locations. The portal sites or gateways redirect a user to the holders of the original digital information storage. The librarians, being the earliest inhabitants on the web, and following their professional instincts, immediately began to create link to collections on all sorts of subjects.

Subject gateways are also known as subject-based Information gateways, subject index gateways, virtual libraries, clearing houses, subject trees, pathfinders and other variants thereof. Subject gateway is an important component of information centers, web site designed for the users so as to help them discover high-quality information on the Internet in a quick and effective way.

Objectives
1. To design a model of web enabled library and information system.
2. To study the existing information environment pattern of the university.
3. To assess the information requirements of faculty and students in digital environment.
4. To know the information use pattern of the faculty and students of the university.
5. To develop information literacy model for university library in accessing e-resources.
6. To identify the required open e-resources and priced e-resources for the users surveyed.
7. To evolve strategies for marketing of information by accessing information needs of the faculty and researchers.
8. To develop a prototype model of university library portal.

Methodology
Keeping in view the objectives of the study, design a library portal using Microsoft FrontPage and data collected (collection of resources) from the Science gateway and Internet and integrating web 2.0 tools in delivering of library services. The study would emphasis on linking required electronic books, Electronic Journals, Bibliographic Databases, Electronic Theses and Dissertations, blogs, open archives and other scholarly publications that can be accessed using network, also design the services required for Bharathidasan University community. In addition the researcher randomly select subject portals, portals of higher education, university and library portals to assess the structure, tool, techniques used in designing the portal and also list services rendered through this gateways. The study would involve identifying different types of information requirements of the user community, their approach to information, familiarity with e-access and assessing in designing of customized information system for universities in particular. The Researcher would also deploy the data collection tools such as interview and observation methods, appropriate statistical tools will be used to get inputs in designing the information system.

CHOICE OF THE PROBLEM
The problem area that we have focused is how library portal can be used within the University. As mentioned earlier portal is today one of the popular method used to spread business, academic and research information. The most common way today for institution to spread their information is by the use of e-mail, intranet and instant messaging (IM), mobile communications, each one of these methods has its advantages and disadvantages. Access to e-resources has been facilitated and initiated by the Government of India through INDEST and UGC-Infonet Consortium; it has popularized the scholarly publication and research literature among the faculty and researcher even in remote areas of the country. It is the responsibility of the library and library researchers to find ways and means to optimize / maximize the use of scholarly resources by adopting new technologies in delivery of information. It is important to find and implement the methods that give more advantages in exchange the information use in an academic institution. Important aspects when you are discussing information and it is dissemination are, what, when and to whom the information will reach.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Designing of an information system pertaining to higher academic educational institution would be much relevent to the vision of the educational institution. It involves analyzing the individual and group needs of students, researchers, faculty and customizing the information delivery and information products always find optimum benefit to the library system. The study also would emphasis the role of LIS professionals in University environment and skills and further training required to be impart to the library professionals involved in this task. These kinds of research activities make the library as major comments of Knowledge Management System of the University that integrate policy Unit, the administration and ICT units.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The proposed study touches upon the conceptual framework, technological aspects in designing the structure of information system for higher education. This needs the researcher to study a range of higher education portals, library portals existing globally and make a critical analysis. The study also involved in reviewing web 2.0 and web 3.0 technologies and their applications in LIS to meet the user’s requirements, the impact of technologies in enhancing the quality of LIS. The information environment prevailing in the university systems of the country and the pattern of use of the technology by the libraries and users in delivery of information and access also will be evaluated.

LIST OF FEW LIBRARY PORTALS STUDIED AS SAMPLE

Vidyanidhi Digital Library portal
http://www.vidyanidhi.org.in/
Jayakar Library Portal, University Of Pune
http://lib.unipune.ernet.in/Portal/portal.html
Bangalore University Library portal
http://library.bub.ernet.in/sub/balnet.html
UNESCO Library Portal
http://www.unesco-ci.org/cgi-bin/portals/libraries/
University of Delhi Library portal
http://crl.du.ac.in/
6. ACM Digital Library Portal
http://portal.acm.org/dl.cfm
Temasek Polytechnic Digital Library Portal
http://spark.tp.edu.sg/
Higher Education Portal in India
http://india.gov.in/citizen/higher_education.php