Library & Documentation

The Library and Documentation Unit was established in the year 1979 and developed information resources. The total collection is 14,000 comprising of books, bound volume of journals, maps, atlases, reports, theses, conference proceedings, etc. The library subscribes to 15 Foreign Journals and 26 Indian journals. The five regional centers located at Bangalore, Delhi, Jorhat, Kolkata and Udaipur are also attached with small technical libraries with core collection of regional interest.

The main objectives of the Unit are :
  • To function as an effective soil information system to cater the information needs of soil scientists.
  • To collect, store, synthesise and monitor information on soils.
  • To procure relevant scientific and technical information resources on all aspects of soil survey and land use planning.
  • To establish bibliographic database for storing and retrieving information.
  • To maintain liaison with national and international organizations for exchange of information.
The library’s main objective is to acquire all pertinent information resources, and to organize it to meet the current and future needs of soil survey programmes. In addition to acquisition of conventional literature like books, scientific/technical journals, an effort is made to trace and acquire all non-conventional literature such as annual reports, soil survey reports and agricultural statistical data pertaining to all states.

Documentation Services

In order to keep the research staff informed about the latest information added to the library, the following services are being brought out on regular basis:
  • Current Titles Announcement Service (CTAS) (Fortnightly) from 1993 to 2011.
  • Current Titles Alert (CTA) 2012 & onwards [Previously known as Current Titles Announcement Service (CTAS)]
It is a monthly in-house publication based on receipt of current journals in the library. A scanned copy of the content pages of journal issues (alphabetically arranged) is mailed to all Divisions/Sections of the Bureau including 5 Regional Centres, which keeps scientific and technical staff abreast of latest information received in the library. In addition, Bureau’s publication lists, serials holding list are updated periodically for references. Library Automation Software : SOUL (Software for University Libraries) developed by UGC is being used for library automation work. E-Mail and Internet facility is available in the library. The following services are being provided by library.
  • OPAC
  • CD-ROM Databases
  • New Arrivals
  • Internet surfing
  • CeRA (NAIP)
  • Reprographic services
On-line Portals/ Journals through CeRA (NAIP) : CeRA (Consortium of e-Resources in Agriculture) is Consortium of e-journals (full text),a project under NAIP, ICAR and provided access to 123 libraries of National Agriculture Research System (NARS) for the years 2008-10. NBSS&LUP is also one of the beneficiaries of this initiative. Presently a total of 1342 on-line full text journals are available on CeRA of following publishers.
  • Springer link: It is a platform of Springer and provides on-line access to 70 journals on different subjects published by Springer.
  • Annual Reviews: Annual Reviews are authoritative and focused on different disciplines like Biomedical, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences. It provides access to 22 journals
  • CSIRO (Australia): Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) provides access to 8 journals
  • Taylor and Francis Ltd: It provides access to 1079 Journals
  • ‘IndianJournals.com’: It provides access to 131 Journals
  • Elsevier Science: It provides access to 358 Journals
  • Oxford University Press: It provides access to 30 Journals
  • American Society of Agronomy: It provides access to 8 journals
The above e-resources can be accessed by visiting URL: http://www.cera.jccc.in through NBSS & LUP LAN. CD-ROM Networking through LAN : The following four international databases on agriculture in CD ROM are available in the Library.
  • CABI databse,1973 + (U.K.)
  • AGRIS database,1975 + (FAO, Rome)
  • AGRICOLA database,1970 + (USDA,USA)
  • SOIL CD database,1973 + (U.K.)
For this purpose a CD Mirror server has been installed under LAN, and all the CDs’ of these databases are stored in the CD Mirror server. The above databases can be accessed in all the computers spread over in two buildings through LAN. ISBN to NBSS&LUP Publications : NBSS&LUP publishes wide variety of publications in the form of annual report; research/technical bulletins, various scale maps of India and different States. The ISBN/ISSN numbers are allocated from library, and copies of each publication are sent to concerned agencies for inclusion in their database. The publications are sent to prominent journals, abstracting/indexing services for review purpose in order to achieve wider information dissemination. Centralised Services : The following equipment’s are maintained in the library to provide centrilised services to the staff.
  • Photocopying Machine
  • Lamination Machine
  • Comb binding Machine
  • Thermal binding Machine
Developing Electronic Information Resources : Online journals and statistical information data bases (www.indiastat.com) are being subscribed. Efforts are being made to subscribe maximum number of online journals.

Subscribed Journals

Foreign Journal
  1. Agriculture and Forest Meteorology
  2. Agricultural Ecosystem and Environment
  3. Agricultural Systems
  4. Agronomy Journal
  5. Asian Journal of Geoinformatics
  6. Australian Journal of Soil Research
  7. Canadian Journal of Soil Science
  8. Cartography Journal
  9. Catena
  10. Clay Minerals
  11. Clays & Clay Minerals
  12. Computer & Electronic in Agriculture
  13. The Electronic Library
  14. European Journal of Soil Science
  15. Experimental Agriculture
  16. Geomorphology
  17. Geoderma
  18. International Journal of G.I.S.
  19. International Journal of Remote Sensing
  20. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation & Geoinformation
  21. Journal of Geographical Systems
  22. Journal of Soil & Water Conservation
  23. Land Use Policy
  24. Land Degradation & Development
  25. National Geographic
  26. Nature
  27. Soil Science Society of America Journal
  28. Soil Survey Horizons
  29. Soil Science
  30. Soil Use & Management
Indian Journal
  1. Annals of NAGI
  2. Annals of Library and Information Studies
  3. Agricultural Situation in India
  4. Agricultural Today
  5. Agropedology
  6. Annals of Agricultural. Research
  7. Annals of arid zone
  8. Asian Agri- History
  9. Baliraja (Marathi)
  10. Clay Research
  11. Current Science
  12. Digit
  13. Down to Earth
  14. GIS India
  15. Geographical Review of India
  16. Indian farming
  17. Indian Journal of Agricultural Science
  18. Indian Forester
  19. Indian Journal Agricultural Economics
  20. Indian Journal of Agronomy
  21. Indian Journal of Earth Science
  22. Indian Journal of Fertiliser
  23. Indian Journal of Soil Conservation
  24. Journal of Agrometereology
  25. Journal of Geological Society of India
  26. Journal of Indian Society of Coastal Agricultural Research
  27. Journal of Indian Society of Soil Science
  28. Journal of Maharashtra Agricultural Universities
  29. Journal of Potassium Research
  30. Kheti (In Hindi)
  31. Mausam
  32. Photonirvachak
  33. Science Reporter
  34. SRELS Journal of Information Management
  35. Yojana