The objective is to facilitate academic communication amongst scientist, engineers, social scientists, academics, faculties, researchers and students through electronic mail, file transfer, computer, audio, video conferencing, etc. The objective is to establish a computer communication network for linking libraries and Information Centres in universities, deemed to be universities, colleges, UGC Information Centres, institutions of national importance and R&D institutions, etc. The objective is also to  promote and establish communication facilities to improve capability in information transfer and access, that provide support to scholarship, learning, research and academic pursuit through cooperation and involvement of different stakeholders. Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET), the autonomous inter-university centre of the University Grants Commission (UGC) located at Gujarat University Campus, Ahmedabad, is engaged in modernisation of libraries and information centers for information transfer and access, to meet all these objectives and there by establishing a national network of libraries and information centres in higher learning in India.

INFLIBNET is a co-operative endeavor in resource development, sharing and its utilisation at national level. Initially, it was started as a programme under Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune on project mode and since May 1996 it attained the status of a full fledged Centre and is set out to be a major player in  promoting scholarly communication among academicians and researchers in India.

Library Automation

The automation of University Libraries is an important activity of the Centre, since it is also a pre-requisite for networking of libraries and resource sharing under the INFLIBNET Programme. Realising the importance of this basic necessity, INFLIBNET through University Grants Commission has been providing grants (initial and recurring) to the universities identified under the programme. Every year 15-20 libraries are identified and initial grant to the tune of INR 6.5 lakhs is provided. This enables the university libraries to purchase computers, modem, telephone, printer, air-conditioner, softwares (OS) etc. These selected universities are also provided with recurring grant for the first five years after the installation of systems. Till now, 142 universities have been given grants for the automation purpose. The above support has given tremendous boost to the automation activities at the participating universities. The Centre has provided technical guidance, including configuration of the systems, modality, execution and retrospective conversion of the data, common standards, etc.

Development of Union database

The Centre has developed many databases to support libraries and academic community. Online National Union Catalogue of academic libraries is one of the important databases created over a period of time with different types of material (Books, Serials, Theses etc.), which comprises of eight million bibliographic records and provided building blocks for resource sharing infrastructure both at national and regional level for university libraries in India.

The Centre is also engaged in creating other databases, such as Experts, Research Projects, Experts in Science and Technology etc., which can be accessed online using Internet through INFLIBNET website www.inflibnet.ac.in.

Software research and development

The Centre has designed and developed a state-of-the-art comprehensive Library Management Software called SOUL (Software for University Libraries) through its R & D pursuits. It is aimed at accelerating the library automation movement in the country, which has gained lots of popularity in past few years and the installation base has reached to 1350 as on date across the country. This installation base includes Universities, Colleges, Research Centres, Institutes of higher learning etc. due to its user-friendly features and over 1000 orders for installations are in pipeline. It has generated a revenue of INR 3 cr. (approx) for the Centre.

Human Resource Development

INFLIBNET has been conducting various training courses/workshops of short and long duration; International Conventions like International CALIBER and PLANNER are regular features too. Several other types of training courses and workshops are conducted in collaboration with different national agencies like ICSSR / NASSDOC, All India Radio, DRTC, ICAR and Kendriya Vidhyalaya Sangattan(KVS), Govt. of Gujarat, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, etc. So far about 22500 professionals/academicians in various disciplines got benefited out of 342 activities and majority of them are from library, information and computers science disciplines.

UGC-Infonet

The Centre has been able to realise its one of the objectives by setting up a major communication network of universities and it has successfully interlinked 149 universities through UGC-Infonet which has been  planned, implemented and monitored by INFLIBNET using ERNET India, New Delhi (a Govt of India society under Ministry of Information Technology) backbone with state-of-art technology.

Main features of UGC-InfoNet are:

• Scaleable Architecture to grow nation-wide terrestrial backbone using fiber optic links
  
• Integrated satellite WAN supporting broadband and SCPC technology
  
• Comprehensive Network Management systems for overall monitoring of the network
  
• Linkage with other academic and research networks all over the world 
  
• Security for data and virus protection using firewalls and intrusion detection systems
  
• Dedicated Data Center for Web hosting, e-Journals and Mail Boxes
  
• Broadband Multimedia and Video Channels for Distance Learning

1. UGC-InfoNet has become a vehicle for distance learning to facilitate spread of quality education all over the country.

2. UGC-InfoNet is tool to distribute education material and journals to remotest of areas.

3. UGC-InfoNet is a resource for researchers and scholars for tapping most up-to-date information.

4. UGC-InfoNet will form a medium for collaboration among the teachers and students not only within the country but all over the world.

5. UGC-InfoNet is an Intranet for University Automation.

6. UGC-InfoNet  encompasses entire University System for most efficient utilisation of precious network resources.

7. UGC-InfoNet  establishes a channel for Globalisation of Education and facilitate the universities in marketing their services and development.

Network Architecture of UGC Infonet

UGC InfoNet is based on open IP platform, employing state-of-the-art technologies like IP Multicast,  TCP Spoofing and other Internet tools that provide interactive education on PC or TV, enabling on-line response to queries. Open systems architecture will ensure support for current and future applications.

Connectivity options for universities