Indian researchers are increasingly using the Net for getting electronic versions of papers, accessing digital libraries, finding and downloading public domain software, submitting papers, finding out details of conferences, getting product information, etc

And it's surely making their lives easier.

Gautam Barua, Dean, Research and Development, IIT (Guwahati), says "In our Institute, researchers have taken to the Net in a big way. However, libraries and books still have their place. Journals though, have become less important as papers are increasingly becoming available online. However, to do research online, high bandwidth is important. While this is not a problem in the metros, the same cannot be said for institutions in small towns".

Shyam Gokarn, an ex-IITian from Mumbai, who is an active researcher, says the Internet is a link to information you might require. "While we are researching a topic, we prefer to stay, eat and sleep in the lab, and the Net facilitates our research. We don't need to go out to find journals in Kolkata or Delhi anymore. The Web is faster, and offers exposure to more technical details".

"Researchers who originally were used to books and libraries have moved to the Internet, though those in their fifties and above are a bit slow. However, a forty-year-old does need to get 'trained' in searching techniques," says Keyur Kalaria, CEO, Search4i.com, a search engine and link directory.

What do librarians have to say? "The Internet provides only bibliographical information, and researchers still ask the library assistants for help in detail. Catalogue cards are still as important. In fact, the workload has increased, as we now have to maintain the traditional system as well as tools and technology for the Web," says Kognur Math, Librarian, Tata Institute of Social Studies. "Around 40 per cent of researchers have moved to the Internet, but the Social Sciences stream is quite slow as compared to the technical stream," he adds.

The Net has definitely taken the sweat out of researching. What now takes a day to find, would otherwise have taken a month. It's a cheerful goodbye to browsing archives, getting someone to catalogue them, going to various libraries, writing letters via snail mail and waiting for replies. "Data can be collected quickly. And if you spend any time on invalid data, it is more than compensated by the time you save otherwise. It does improve the quality of research as we can now be more choosy," says Minal Shah, a student at TISS.

But there are those who offer a word of advice: "What is available free online is often general or encyclopedic type information. Scholarly or premium content is rarely free. A serious researcher shouldn't depend on the Net, or the result could be disastrous!" says P Jayarajan, Head (Library and Information Services), British Council Library.

"The Net has not replaced the need for using books and other printed materials for research purposes. While searching for "architecture", a noted search engine throws up about 10,500,000 links. If not one against the other, but one complimenting and supplementing the other," he points out.

One of the drawbacks of online research appears to be the sheer volume of data generated. Jayarajan observes that the solution to this could lie in browsing Web directories in a systematic manner, and using 'filtered search' options. Hari Mohan, a consultant for an HIV/AIDS project talks about the difference that advanced search options have made to him: "I access lots of documents online. One of my Internet-savvy friends told me how to search effectively. After that my searches yielded better results."

The other issue concerns the identity of writers and authenticity of data: "There are various clubs, communities, mailing lists, newsgroups, etc. You can't always know whether to trust their information," says Kalaria. Which is why Gokarn advises caution: "One should not take for granted the validity of information on the Net. If I want to read only one chapter from a journal, I go online. I then get more detailed information directly from the publisher."

Maya Avasaya, Librarian, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, feels that the trend in research depends on the subject at hand. For application oriented subjects like molecular biology, corporate studies, technology and biomedical sciences, the Net is a more popular choice, but for fundamental subjects like maths, people still prefer books, she says.

"The electronic version is not yet stabilised. There are issues with the access, subscriptions and downloading limitations of online publications. The license has to be renewed every year, and the terms and conditions change annually. But the biggest issue is that of archives. A book, as soon as it's bought, becomes library property, but in the case of online journals, the propriety remains with the publisher and we don't know whether he will maintain the archive, or whether the archiving solution will be CD-ROM, DVD or something else," she comments.

She claims that although there has been a fall in the presence of people in the library, the importance of the library has not decreased. "Whenever people have difficulty accessing information, or want more detailed or related information, they rely on the librarian. And the Net is popular only for journals, not for books", she adds, "However a very big advantage is that virtually, the library is open 24 hours of the day."

In the pre-Internet days, the first step for a researcher was to visit libraries, make an exhaustive literature search and compile a comprehensive bibliography. This is now done sitting at a computer, accessing online catalogues.

"Historical or backdated information is still better found in the library, as retrospective information is not easily available on the Net," claims Vijaya Rajhans, Librarian, Mumbai University. "The library is still in demand, in fact yesterday I had to arrange for 25 extra chairs".

Says Jayarajan, "I have often found the Net a good source for accessing reports from governmental agencies, but not for anything of scholarly nature. Some researchers make use of the Net, by 'cutting and pasting'. But ideally, online information should only be used as a supplementary source. But it surely helps the researchers present their findings in more imaginative ways".